A Twisted Vacation
by Crystalteen
Summary: Ponyboy and Soda talk Darry into taking them and the gang to a lodge in Kansas for winter break. Nothing sounds better than a vacation away from a dangerous place like Tulsa, right? But what happens when the gang gets stuck at the lodge after discovering that some murderous kidnappers are on the loose?
1. A Vacation?

**A/N: Yes, I'm writing yet another "The Outsiders" fanfic, but I'm such a huge fan of S.E. Hinton's work. I do not own any of "The Outsiders" characters or any piece from "The Outsiders" story in general! All rights go to S.E. Hinton! I only own the characters that I make up!**

**This story if for me to write and work whenever I come across writer's block or anything in "All Bruises and Scars Sooner Return," so if I don't update a whole lot on this or "All Bruises and Scars Sooner Return," don't worry, I'm working hard on the other story. Since I've been working a lot on "All Bruises and Scars Last Sooner Return," I've decided to start working on a _mysterious _and _suspenseful _"The Outsiders" fanfic. **

**_Summary #2: The gang thought that it would be interesting to kick out of Tulsa for awhile and head to this lodge during winter break. A vacation away from a place where there is tons of rumbles, shootings, robberies, murders, and stealing sounds great, right? Well, not for the Curtis' and their gang of pals, the greasers. What happens when the gang finds out about a kidnapper that's on the loose around the lodge? And what about when the roads become too icy to get back home before anything dangerous possibly happens?_ **

**Enjoy! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll attempt updating! _Hint, hint _there! Enjoy chapter one! :D :D :D :D**

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_Darry's POV_

Bills, bills, bills...more bills here, more bills there...all over the kitchen table, I was busy checking over all of the bills and making sure that my kid brothers and I had enough money to pay them off yet again. Luckily, we always did, but that never stopped my stress from rising. Did these people have anything else better to do than sending others tons of bills to pay off by different dates?

I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a heavy sigh to myself. I felt as if I was getting ready to just slam my head down onto the table and allow the bills to burry me from my extreme headache. All I ever seem to do is go to work and roof houses ever since my folks died in a auto-wreck. That was my good-bye ticket to college, and an early hello to what seemed like parenthood to my two kid brothers, sixteen-almost-seventeen-year-old Soda, and fourteen-year-old Ponyboy. I had to make sure that they stayed in line nearly every day, especially Soda since Pony usually has his eyes glued on a picture or his nose stuck in a book.

Soda got drunk on just plain living...well, that's how Ponyboy described him in the theme that he wrote in order to pass his advanced writing class. I couldn't disagree with him though. Sodapop _did_ get arrested this one time with our good pal Two-Bit since they were busy cheering loudly and doing acrobatics all up and down the streets of Tulsa. They woke so many people up and got filed so many complaints that I thought when the fuzz called that it would be about our toughest friend, Dallas Winston.

A lot has happened to me and my kid brothers ever since our parents died. For example, social services always swung by once every month to talk about Soda's job down at the DX, Ponyboy's grades and new job that he fetched down at the bowling alley, my job and how I paid the bills, and whatever else they wanted to ask us about. Usually they always questioned Pony about how he felt about staying with me since I accidentally allowed my temper to snap and I smacked him clear across his face this one dreadful night. I wish that they wouldn't bring up such a terrible memory, because not only did it hurt me and my brothers, but it also hurt the rest of the gang from the many memories that followed what all happened after that.

Ponyboy was almost drowned in the fountain at the park by some drunk Socs, but his greatest friend out of the whole gang, Johnny Cade saved him by committing murder for self-defensive on the head Soc, Bob Sheldon. After that, things all went from bad to worse. Ponyboy and Johnny ended up running away to this old abandoned church, but when it caught on fire and Johnny got stuck inside, his tan skin became horribly burnt and his back seemed smashed. We all thought that Johnny was dead after Pony came home late that night after the rumble, but he wasn't. It was a miracle that he survived and he healed up completely, as if he was never harmed. His burns were completely gone and his back was as good as new.

As for our pal Dallas, or Dally...even the roughest hood in all of Tulsa had a breaking point. He loved Johnny like a little brother, and after he thought that Johnny was dead, he attempted suicide by committing a robbery and running away from the fuzz with an unloaded heater. Dallas didn't die though...Pony tackled him down to the ground, and the rest of the gang, including myself, surrounded them and called for the cops to not shoot because Dally was just a seventeen-year-old kid that was going through a hard time in his head. That didn't stop the police from hauling Dally in though.

Our pals lived, and after winter came back around, things were slowly beginning to go back to normal.

Ponyboy was still passing with all A's and Soda was still working successfully down at the DX with his best friend since grade school, seventeen-year-old Steve Randle, and the first female greaser in all of Tulsa, fourteen-year-old Kitten Andrews.

As for Johnny, he was slowly beginning to improve in school, and he was back to taking care of his own little siblings, twelve-year-old Cassidy and seven-month-old Jocelyn. If anybody thought that Dally was the one who took Johnny's "death" the hardest, they'd be wrong. Cassidy wouldn't stop blubbering for hours, and whenever Jocelyn saw somebody cry, she couldn't help herself to cry too.

Eighteen-year-old Two-Bit Mathews, the wisecracker of our reckless pack, was back to none other than cracking many jokes by the minute and sometimes even bothering us with ridiculous, childish pranks.

Everything was improving, but I wish that I could have just one day without worrying about if anybody in the gang is safe or not, or a day where I wouldn't have to pick up a bill.

"Hey, Darry," Soda came strolling into the kitchen with that happy-go-lucky grin of his plastered widely across his face. According to Ponyboy, he was movie-star material, and that honestly had me cracking up on the inside. Soda looked just like our mother with his golden blonde hair and soft brown eyes that were always dazzling with everlasting life.

"Hey, Pepsi-Cola," I heavily sighed again as I ran my hands through my hair. Our father always called him that when he and our mom was still around.

I didn't need to make eye-contact with Soda to know that he had just cocked an eyebrow, a trick that he had picked up from Two-Bit.

"Are the bills givin' you a hard time again?" Pepsi questioned me, and I only nodded my head as I kept my eyes on the piles of bills that I already went through. I heard the sound of the fridge opening up, followed by the sound of glass gently tapping against the door before it closed again. Knowing Soda by heart, he had got himself a Coke.

"Darry, why don't you take a break from the bills? There's something that Ponyboy and I actually want to talk to you about." shared Soda, the tone of his voice hopeful. I knew that voice...usually Sodapop pulled that voice whenever he wanted me to cave into something he or Ponyboy wanted. They've attempted to talk me into getting a dog, allowing them to get their own motorcycles, and even Soda tried getting me to allow him to teach Pony how to flirt with a girl. Of course, I denied all of them.

"Soda, I already told you and Pony that I'm not getting either of you motorcycles or a dog." I firmly stated with a roll of my eyes.

"Who said that that's what we wanted to talk to you 'bout?" The sound of Soda's voice was still full of hope.

Confusedly, I raised an eyebrow and began to wonder what in the world could either of my kid brothers want this time.

The Mickey Mouse theme song was singing away from the TV in the living room, no other from Two-Bit, of course.

"Two-Bit, if you don't turn that pile of bull crap down right now, I will punch you in your eye!" Dally's voice bellowed with a drop-dead warning tone, and just after a couple of seconds, the TV was turned down.

"But seriously, Darry," Soda's voice was suddenly hurt. "Why can't we get a dog or just one motorcycle?"

I finally decided to take my eyes off of the bills and swirl around in my chair. When my eyes met Soda's, I noticed that he was giving me that puppy dog frown on his, but no matter how many times he flashed me that look, I wasn't going to cave.

I gave him a stern expression in return. "Because dogs are a whole lot of responsibility and they cost a bunch of money. As for the motorcycles, you've been to enough drag races to know how dangerous your own sets of wheels can be if you're not using them properly."

Soda crossed his free arm over his stomach and shook his head, but he didn't bother to say anything else about the motorcycles or a dog.

"Now what do you and Ponyboy want to talk to me about _this_ time?" I dared myself to ask in order to change the topic and just get this new talk over with.

Without any hesitating, Sodapop's puppy dog pout instantly washed away from his face, and his movie-star handsome grin spread widely for me to see. Just knowing he attempted fooling me with his phony puppy dog act that time made me roll my eyes, but it's not like Soda minded. He knew what I was like whenever I caught somebody trying to pull something over on me.

I sat still in my chair and waited, still wondering what my kid brothers would ask me for this time as Soda walked over to the arch doorway and poked his head into the living room. Ponyboy was apparently sitting on the couch with Kitten and Johnny, reading yet another book as he successfully tuned out everything else that was going on around him.

I think Steve was flipping through a cars and engines magazine, and Dally was kicking back in the recliner, making sure that Two-Bit wasn't making eyes at his redhead sister, sixteen-year-old Valerie. Nobody ever called her by her real name though; she threatened everybody who knew her real name that if they dared to call her it, they would be picking up all of their teeth from the floor. Instead, everyone called her Vinny.

"All right, Darry..." Soda took in a deep breath and released it happily after Ponyboy finally came trotting into the kitchen. A big grin was detailed all over his face too, so I could tell that I was going to have to go through hearing about something else that they wanted.

"Darry, you know how much we love you, right?" Pony asked me, and in return, I raised my eyebrows at him.

I then hesitated, keeping quiet as I rolled my eyes back and forth from him to Soda. I kept that up for maybe five silent seconds before I opened my mouth.

"...This outta be good. What do you two kiddies want this time?"

Ponyboy folded his hands and exchanged his hopeful smile with Soda's just as joyful grin. Their different colored eyes were sparkling, and they both glanced back at me at the same time. At first, I was greeted with silence from the two of them, but I wasn't going to say anything else until they told me what it was that they wanted.

I tapped my fingers over and over again, listening to them gently make their soft thuds against the back of my chair as I continued to wait for either of my little brothers to speak up.

"Darry, can you look outside for us?" Soda suddenly asked, which left me confusedly raising an eyebrow. I turned my head over towards the window, only so I could be greeted with the sight of the glass covered with freezing frost, and I could some more snowflakes beginning to gently dance down from the light gray sky all over again. The ground was completely covered in patches of white, and not one bit of grass or any sidewalks were showing. All I could see of the roads were the tracks from different cars and neighborhood pets making their ways around Tulsa.

"Okay...I see that it's winter outside...so what?" I simply shrugged my shoulders as I turned my attention back over to Ponyboy and Sodapop.

Ponyboy crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, it's obvious that you're no longer roofing houses with this freezing temperature and snowy weather..."

"And my boss decided to give Kitten, Steve, and I the rest of winter break off with pay since we're apparently the best workers he's ever had..." added Soda, the hopefulness in his voice only growing more with each word he spoke.

I guess my kid brothers thought that I understood what they wanted by the time they had finished there, but I honestly knew squat towards why they just told me about how I wasn't working and neither was Soda.

Again, I shrugged. "So? I already told you that we ain't getting any pets or motorcycles, so what else could either of you possibly want?"

"It's winter break, Darry," Soda stated, as if I didn't know that. "Ever since school ended two hours or so ago, winter break has begun and nobody in the gang has any plans."

Soda had a point there. No matter how much anyone from the gang attempted going anywhere, every place was basically closed up due to the weather. The movies and the Dingo were shut down, Buck decided to cancel his upcoming party, the park was practically berried...you name it and there is a problem with it. Besides, it was too cold to even step a foot out the door before you would probably get frozen into a block of ice.

"Well, I'm afraid that we can't control the weather. Every place 'round here is shut down or berried out there in the freezing snow." I pointed out.

Soda took a drink from his glass bottle of Coke and nodded his head before swallowing. Another smile then swiped across his face, which had me feeling like I was just about to holler out for the whole neighborhood to hear: "What in the world do you two want from me?" Though, I was able to keep my voice to myself.

"Right," Ponyboy suddenly stated. "Every place around _here_..."

There was this feeling inside of me that was telling me that I should've known exactly what my kid brothers wanted right then and there, but I was honestly only growing more confused by the minute. They didn't want the darn motorcycles or a dog, and Soda definitely wasn't trying to get my permission for him to help Ponyboy understand how to flirt with a girl...what else could two teenagers like my little brothers want?

I rested my eyes shut for a moment and felt my headache only striking the sides of my head harder and harder. I then pinched the bridge of my nose and took in a deep, soft breath, holding it in for a couple of seconds before I reopened my eyes and fixed my attention back on Pony and Soda, who were still grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"...Did you guys break something or do something that you're trying to hide from me because you know I won't approve off it?" I curiously raised my eyebrows and gave both of my brothers my drop-dead serious facial expression.

"No," Ponyboy answered me with complete honesty, and Soda shook his head.

I bit down on my bottom lip and attempted one final time to think hard about what they could _possibly _want so badly if they never told me it yet. However, I had no idea. They never tried going this long without telling me what they wanted when they asked if we could get a dog or if I could get them motorcycles.

"Look, guys," I heavily sighed with a single roll of my eyes. I was clearly getting annoyed, and Sodapop and Ponyboy knew that. "I'd appreciate it if you just told me what you two are hoping for because I just finished cleaning the whole house, making lunch, and now I'm trying to wrap up these bills. If you didn't notice by now, I'm _exhausted_, so _please _just tell me what you guys want _this time_."

Soda and Pony finally exchanged their smiles one final time before they gazed back at me.

Soda placed his free hand on his hip and said happily: "Kansas, Darry,"

My eyes went wide, but not with shock or anything like that. I was just plain confused all over again. What did he mean by Kanas? Him and Pony...wanted Kansas?

"Kanas?" I coughed a little, and my kid brothers eagerly nodded their heads, obviously hoping to death for me to approve what they wanted this time.

"Yeah, Darry! Ponyboy and I were hoping that you would take us and the rest of the gang away to Kansas for a vacation! There's this really tuff lodge down there that Ponyboy heard about in school, and I think that going there for winter break would be the best thing ever!" Soda was actually leaping up and down and clapping his hands, as if he was a little kid on a sugar high. That's Pepsi-Cola for you though. You never live a single moment of your life with boredom.

"Just imagine it, Darry," Ponyboy spoke up before I could say what was on my mind. "Instead of being all cooped up here in the house for the whole winter break, would you rather have fun at a lodge? You know, new people, snow activities, and we can have plenty of more fun than here in Tulsa where there are shootings, robberies, rumbles, and all of that drama!"

I thought that my eyes were wide before from confusion, but now I knew that I was proven wrong. My eyes were like two marbles, huge and glassy like, and my mouth had fell open to form a sort of small 'O' shape after hearing Ponyboy and Soda finally confess to me why they were so excited.

"Oh lord...um..." I finally said after I was able to find my voice. "Ponyboy, Soda...I don't think it's such a good idea for us to go on vacation."

Just like I was afraid of, the excited smiles instantly vanished from my kid brother's faces. Again, Soda pulled the puppy dog pout, while Ponyboy crossed his arms over his chest and gazed down at the floor, disappointed.

"Why not, Darry?" Sodapop demanded to know in a completely whiny, childish like voice. "I mean, we haven't went on any kind of vacation ever since our parents took us to Disneyland when we were just little kids. This winter break is a great opportunity to get away from Tulsa with the gang and leave behind all of this chilly boredom."

I narrowed my eyes a little and motioned to the bills that I already paid off, but there were "some" remaining in front of me.

"Vacations cost money, you two. Kansas is no less than an eleven hour ride. Imagine how much our gas bill will go up when dealing with heading all the way there and back. And how 'bout if we, including the gang, have to rent any kind of winter supplies there? Our meals? All of our rooms? This will all cost too much!" I declared.

Pony refused to make any sort of eye-contact with me. Sometimes I felt like he was too stubborn for his own good, but then again...pretty much everyone in our gang is too stubborn for their own good from time to time.

"I told you he wouldn't allow us to go on any kind of vacation, Soda." Pony stubbornly mumbled, as if I wasn't even there. He had to stop spending so much time around Dally.

To be honest, hearing my baby brother say that hit me right in the heart. I might've not showed it on the outside, but I was feeling very terrible on the outside. I mean, it _would _be nice to get out of Tulsa with the gang and celebrate our winter break elsewhere for a change. We actually never went on any kind of vacation before with the gang, and I must admit that that would be something that I'd like to go through to see how it would all turn out. However, I was just stressed out over all of the bills and I didn't know if we would have enough money leftover to go on such a vacation.

"Ponyboy, I'm not trying to be mean, but you know how much the three of us work and how hard it is to pay off all of the bills, plus the grocery shopping." I explained in the calmest voice that anybody could ever pull off, but I was talking when hiding my sorrow behind the mask completely. I didn't want my kid brother to be mad at me; I didn't want either of them to be upset.

"But, Darry, we've been working very hard and there is absolutely nothing for us to do here except watch Mickey Mouse until the weather sooner or later knocks out the electricity." Soda wouldn't stop using the puppy dog face on me, but I wasn't slipping my first answer away just yet.

"Look, I just don't think we'll have enough money to spare. The gas bill, the water pill, the electric bill...we got a lot piling up on us and if we take a vacation to Kansas, our bills will only be higher next month." I stated.

Soda's puppy dog face then turned into a complete frown, and he sighed. "We know, but when was the last time we ever got to just settle down with the gang? You know, having actual fun together instead of getting into trouble with the fuzz or having a rumble be called out from 'em Socs? We never had one single time away from Tulsa without our parents, and we just so happened to never have a vacation with the gang."

My frown began to tug at the edges of my lips, but before I could say what I thought I wanted to say, Ponyboy glanced back up from the floor and stared at me with a mixture of plead and complete seriousness swimming in his grayish-greenish eyes.

"School just got out today and our jobs are off until winter break comes to an end. If we go on this vacation, I'll work overtime at the bowling alley and pick up extra shifts if I have to. I'll bring home more money along with Soda's job at the DX so we won't have to ever worry about running out of money again." I honestly thought that Pony was bluffing, only saying that stuff so I would allow this vacation to happen, but when we would get back, he wouldn't keep his promise. Nevertheless, I was wrong. The tone of Ponyboy's voice gave it away that he meant every single word that he said.

Eagerly, Soda nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah, Darry! I'll take more shifts with Steve and Kitten down at the DX, too! Heck, I'll even take over their shifts if it means I can bring home more money to help with the bills and groceries! We just want us and the rest of the gang to have the most memorable winter break, and what's a better way of doin' that by going on a vacation?"

I rolled my eyes all around, hesitation as I stared anywhere but at either of my kid brothers. If this chat was about them wanting the motorcycles or a dog again, I would've slammed my foot down once and for all, telling them no and that was that. However, this talk wasn't like that. This was something that they desperately wanted more than anything, and all so we can spend actual time together without worrying over any of the usual troubles in Tulsa. No robberies, no fights, no vandalism, no murders...no nothing like that. As for Dally possibly getting arrested, I'm afraid that the gang would have to deal with that no matter where we went; though, as for everything else...

"Darry, can you just forget about work and the money to pay for everything for just this winter break? Please?" To my surprise, Ponyboy pulled his own puppy dog face, and I found his harder to escape than Soda's.

I bit down on my bottom lip and nibbled on it for a moment, taking a moment to think everything through and scatter certain thoughts elsewhere. The gang was already like our family, but we parted our ways usually every night. Going on a vacation together and staying at some lodge would only have us seem like we _were _going to become an _actual _family. That is, until we arrive back home in Tulsa at the end of winter break. As much as we all argued from time to time, and we got very annoyed with each other sometimes, I guess we would become a family...God, help us all.

"Hm..." I softly hummed to myself before I finally gazed back at my little brothers. Again, I gave them my serious facial expression. "Do you two promise to keep your word and work harder at your jobs by taking extra shifts and whatnot if we go on this vacation?"

Pony's puppy dog face instantly vanished and his eyes went wide. As for Soda, his mouth slimly dropped open, but the two of them eagerly nodded their heads.

I took a few extra moments to study how my kid brothers looked. They were both dressed in plain hoodies and worn out jeans, along with dirty pairs of tennis shoes, and their hair was drenched completely in hair grease. Yep, they were definitely my baby brothers.

I kept a straight face and left my eyes glued on the eager Ponyboy and Sodapop as I took in another deep, but quiet breath.

"All right..." I spoke as I released the breath.

Soda's jaw seemed to thrillingly drop down to the floor in practically the widest smile I've ever seen him flash.

Ponyboy, on the other hand, looked like he was about to break down into tears of absolute joy and excitement towards my approval.

"All right?" Soda asked with complete cheer in his voice. I could tell that neither he or Pony expected me to finally cave and allow them to get something big like this.

"Yes, all right," I nodded my head. "But if we're goin' to Kansas, we better get ready to go right now. I want you two to go upstairs and get all packed up. In the meantime, I'll tell the gang the news because if we leave by tonight, we should be able to arrive in Kansas by noon tomorrow."

Before I saw it coming, I was attacked in a giant bear hug, feeling the daylights being squeezed out of me by my kid brothers as their smiles hid in my shirt, and their muffled voices kept repeating, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Okay, okay," I couldn't help myself to crack a grin and chuckle at their thrilled behavior. "Now go upstairs and get packed up. We're leavin' tonight."

Without a single moment of pausing after my soft order, Ponyboy and Soda nodded their heads and bashed up the stairs like they saw a ghost coming after them. Just thinking about how thrilled they were had my smile growing more. I must admit that I was pretty excited myself, but I still had to pay off the rest of the bills before we could leave.

"Hey, Superman," Two-Bit addressed me as I casually entered the living room with my grin slightly remaining on my face. Atleast the house was still in a perfect condition, so we could leave it and come back to it all organized and clean by the end of winter break.

I locked my eyes on the wisecracker. "What?"

He took a sip of "his" bottle of beer that he had swiped from the fridge. Then he wiped his lips with his Mickey Mouse T-shirt's sleeve before he asked me what he wanted to ask me. "What did Soda and Ponyboy want from you?"

After hearing that question come out of Two-Bit's mouth, I actually couldn't help myself to allow my smile to spread some more.

Cassidy grinned, snuggling by Johnny's side on the couch with Jocelyn busy sucking her thumb on his lap.

"Darry, you sure look happy 'bout something!" giggled the middle Cade.

Steve tossed the magazine that he was flipping through down onto the coffee table. He then raised an eyebrow and asked me: "What's got you so smiley, Brawn No Brain?"

When I heard that negative nickname pass through Steve's lips, my smile didn't wait to pull back, revealing my teeth that were now starting to clench. My eyes narrowed and swarmed with warning, and I glared at Steve. I swear, if he wasn't Soda's best pal since grade school, or if I wasn't glad about actually agreeing to go on the vacation right then, I would've shattered Steve's jaw for real this time.

"I actually have some news that I'm sure you're all going to love. Some more than others, I'm sure." I shared.

Johnny, Cassidy, and Kitten already seemed interested, giving me small grins with delight sparkling in their eyes.

"Really?" Johnny asked me, and I nodded.

"Well, what's the news, Darry?" questioned Kitten as she tucked her ginger-colored bangs back behind her ear.

I opened my mouth to start speaking about the vacation, but I was cut off when a loud squeak from Mickey Mouse came from the TV, followed by the loud music that he went ahead and danced to.

"Two-Bit, turn the TV off," I rolled my eyes, clearly annoyed by the singing and dancing mouse.

Two-Bit held the remote in the hand that wasn't busy holding "his" half drank bottle of beer. After I told him to turn off the TV, his eyes went wide.

"But it's Mickey!" He objected, which had me running my hands through my hair, as if that was my way of saying: "Are you freaking kidding me?"

I couldn't believe how childish he was. He was seventeen and he _still _watched Mickey Mouse. I'd rather have him watch a beating on the news like Dally if that's all that took for me not having to listen to the dancing and singing mouse nearly 24/7.

"Mathews, turn off the damn TV before I punch your lights out!" hissed Dally from where he was still kicking back in the recliner with a newly lit cigarette being held inbetween his right hand's middle and pointer fingers.

"Okay, okay! Keep your jeans on, Dally!" Two-Bit rolled his eyes and finally turned the TV off.

"All right," I let out a sigh, knowing that everyone's eyes were now back on me. "As I was saying, I have some great news. Thanks to Ponyboy and Soda, we're no longer going to have to stay packed up here for this winter break."

Confusedly, Vinny raised an eyebrow. "Um," She interrupted me before I could go on. "What are you talkin' about, Darry? The temperature seems to just be dropping by the minute, and thanks to the snow, every place is either shut down or berried."

"I was getting to that, Vinny," I informed her, and she just shrugged in return. She's certainly Dally's little sister. "As I was saying, I have decided that we are all goin' to go ahead and take a trip to Kansas so we can spend the winter break together and do a whole lot more than just being cramped up in this house all day. Ponyboy and Soda just _begged _me for a vacation, so here it is."

Steve raised his eyebrows. "We're going to Kansas?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and we're going to stay in this lodge that Pony said he heard 'bout in school."

"Oh, yeah," Johnny spoke up with his usual quiet tone. "I think I know the lodge that Ponyboy was speakin' about. If I'm not mistaking, it's known as The County Lodge, and people say that it's definitely supposed to bring memorable vacations."

Excitedly, Cassidy clapped her hands, and just seeing her do that had Jocelyn adorably giggling and clapping her little hands along.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm up for Kansas this winter break." Kitten flashed her pretty grin, but nobody should be fooled by her. She has one hell of a feisty side if you tick her off.

I turned my attention over to Dally, who looked as if he didn't even hear me talk about the vacation.

"What do you say 'bout this, Dally? Are you and Vinny coming?" I shrugged. Dally opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, Vinny beat him to it.

"I'm comin' whether he's coming or not," She assured me with a drop-dead serious tone as she pointed a thumb over in Dally's direction.

"I'm coming!" Dally hissed at her. The two of them never really got along no matter what. The only times they really helped each other out was during rumbles.

I looked and watched Dallas as he took in a deep drag of his cigarette, most likely so he could remain calm. He held in the smoke for a couple of seconds before blowing it out into a perfect smoke ring.

"It's not like I have any choices anyway. Buck's party is canceled, the Dingo is shut down, the Shepard's went God knows where...sounds like I'm goin' to Kansas with you all."

"And since Soda's going, I guess I'll come, too." Steve sighed. Honestly, I would've made him come one way or the other if Soda wasn't coming. I would've tossed him into the trunk if that's what it took to get him to come with the rest of us to Kansas.

"What about you, Two-Bit?" I questioned.

Instantly, he flashed that wide and goofy smile of his. "Sure, I'm in for a road trip! Besides, my mom and Karen decided to go visit my grandparents and I have nothin' else planned to do."

"So everyone is coming then?" I asked, and just like I suspected, everyone nodded their heads. "Good. Now Ponyboy and Soda are already packing up, so I suggest you all get back to your homes and get your stuff ready yourselves because we're leaving to Kansas tonight."

"Tonight? Why are we going tonight?" questioned Steve.

"Because Kansas is atleast an eleven hour ride and if we start driving by tonight, we should arrive there by noon tomorrow." I answered.

Cassidy coughed a little. "When will we be coming back here?"

"Very early in the morning on the last day of winter break, so we're going to be gone for awhile. Now you all better hurry up, all right? We're leaving tonight." I announced for the final time before everyone swiped their boots back on and zipped up their jackets and headed out the front door with an echoing _BANG _showering throughout the household after they left.

As I headed upstairs to get packed up myself, I started to think about what Johnny said about the lodge. The County Lodge...why did that sound so familiar? I heavily thought about that for maybe ten minutes, but I decided to shrug it off as I folded my clothes and whatever else I needed in my suitcase.

Johnny said that The County Lodge was supposed to bring memorable vacations. However, I didn't know it then, but now I knew that this vacation would _certainly _be one that none of us would ever forget...and not in the good way. I thought that this vacation was actually going to turn out to be one heck of a blast. Man, I couldn't have been more wrong about anything before in my entire life...this wasn't going to be just any ordinary vacation.

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**A/N: So, that's the first chapter! I hope you all liked it and please review! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll attempt updating! Thank you so much and stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks again, everyone! :D :D :D :D**


	2. Good-Bye, Tulsa

**A/N: I believe that a special thanks is in order for those who had already added my story to their favorites and are following. Thank you all so much, and another thanks goes out to those who reviewed my last chapter. You guys are the best! Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster my updates will be attempted. _Hint, hint_... ;)**

**I hope you all enjoy chapter two as much as you all loved chapter one! Please review for faster updates! :D Now onward with the story!**

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_Ponyboy's POV_

I don't think that I've ever been so thrilled over something like this before in my entire life! Darry actually said yes! _Yes_! For the first time ever since our parents passed away, Darry, Soda, and I were leaving Tulsa with the gang. Finally, we would all be able to spend some time together without somebody knowing Dallas like the back of their hand after resting their eyes on him, or without worrying over some rumble approaching with 'em Socs. We were all heading to Kansas, traveling away from all of these robberies, shootings, fights, and vandalisms in our dangerous home town so we could savior our winter break in a tuff and cozy lodge.

The County Lodge...I couldn't help myself to overhear some of my classmates going on and on about how fantastic it was while I was busy working on some leftover homework in study hall. Though I still wonder something...why did The County Lodge's name seem to bring a tingle to me? It's as if I heard about it someplace else before, and I hope that I wasn't the only one who felt atleast a tiny bit suspicious all of the sudden. Unfortunately, Soda definitely wasn't helping me there. Ever since Darry told us to get on upstairs and back our bags because we were heading off to Kanas tonight, Soda had seemed to take his extremely hyper personality to a whole new level.

I had already finished up my packing, so I just sat crossed-legged on mine and Soda's bed with my black duffle bag all packed up and resting next to me. My bluish/grayish eyes were following Sodapop as he excitedly skipped around our bedroom to snatch up everything that he wanted to take with us to Kansas.

His hair grease? Check...obviously, you can't be a full greaser without your hair grease, no matter where you are.

His first ever switchblade? Check...Darry got him it on his sixteenth birthday to apologize for not allowing us to have a dog or motorcycles.

His "lucky" comb? Check...he believed that it was lucky because he was combing his hair with it when his eyes laid on a grinning Sandy for the first time ever.

His DX cap? Check...he loved his job too much to leave it behind.

Half of his clothes on his side of our closet? _Extremely _check.

I swear, he cleaned out pretty much his whole side of the closet without caring to gaze at what shirt or pair of pants he snatched up. Knowing Soda, all of his clothes were going to be completely wrinkled, covered with different kinds of stains, and some were even going to be ripped all throughout the winter break. I've seen his laundry and I had no idea how he could ruin such a perfectly clean piece of clothing in less than five minutes.

That wide, happy-go-lucky grin of his was plastered straight on his movie-star face as he gleefully skipped back over to where I was sitting. Then without any sign of care, he dropped all of his clothes into his suitcase. Still remaining quiet, I watched with my eyes now wide, and Soda began his useless attempts at pressing down his huge pile of clothes so he could latch his suitcase shut. It looked like to me that Soda and his suitcase were in a wrestling match and the suitcase was winning. No matter how many times Soda tried to crush his suitcase down in order to latch it, his gigantic pile of clothes refused to let him. Now it felt as if the clothes were winning against Pepsi-Cola, too.

"Hey, Soda?" I finally broke the silence, my voice soft and full of concern like Johnny's would be if he was wondering about something. No matter how many times I've attempted letting it go, I couldn't stop wondering about how The County Lodge sounded very familiar. Other than school, I just knew that I heard it from someplace else, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. That was honestly driving me insane.

Soda's dark brown eyes met me, but he wouldn't stop moving his bare feet against the floor without getting anywhere as he leaned on his side heavily, pressing himself against his suitcase. He was still struggling to close it, but I acted as if that wasn't happening.

"Yeah, Ponyboy?" By the tone of his voice, you could instantly tell that it was obvious that he was putting all of his strength down onto his suitcase. His face was beginning to even go a little red, which would've made me laugh atleast a little bit if I wasn't lost in thinking about The County Lodge's name.

As if I was concentrating hard on one of my tests, I rested my head in my non-writing hand's open palm and rolled my eyes around a little to myself. I then bit down on my bottom lip and nibbled on it for a moment or two, leaving Soda to continue his "wrestling match" with his suitcase.

No matter how many times The County Lodge seemed to ring in my ears and echo throughout my head, I just couldn't remember where I heard it from in the first place. For me, that's actually very strange and rare, because other than my nightmares, I pretty much have a long memory when it comes to everything else.

Finally, I decided to talk again. "Is it just me, or does The County Lodge sound very familiar? I mean, I know we've never been there or anythin' like that, but it just sounds like I've heard it from someplace else other than my school."

Soda froze up, no longer forcing all of his weight down on his suitcase, and he turned his head back in my direction. His soft eyes that usually always swarming with everlasting life and absolute cheer were now pooling up with a mixture of concern and confusion. It was as if he was silently debating with himself, wondering hard about if he should believe me or not.

"What are you talking about, Pony?" Sodapop confusedly scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

"I could've sworn that I heard of The County Lodge before my classmates started gossiping about how fantastic it was. Though, I'm having a pretty hard time remembering where I last heard of it." I explained, allowing every word to be full of my confusion.

"Oh, Pony," Soda's debating facial expression flashed back into his world-famous smile, and his brown eyes lit up, as if they were never gleaming off confusion and concern. "I'm sure that you're only mistaking. Like you said, this is the first time we're going to The County Lodge, and let's not forget to mention that this is our first vacation ever since our parents passed away. There's no other possible way that we could know 'bout it."

Usually hearing Sodapop's assuring words and cheerful voice would wash away my uncertainty about anything in a single heartbeat. However, this surprisingly wasn't one of those cases. I couldn't stop feeling this tingle inside of me, giving me this sort of sick feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I just thought about The County Lodge. I mean, I was still excited about gettin' out of Tulsa for awhile and spending more time with the gang elsewhere...but why couldn't I stop telling myself that I _did _know The County Lodge from someplace else?

I began to confusedly stutter, and I shook my head. "I-I don't think so, Soda. S-Somethin' just doesn't seem right to me. It's as if The County Lodge has a s-secret to it since I just know by heart t-that I have heard about it b-before I overheard my peers in study hall."

"Ponyboy," Soda snickered a little and playfully ruffled up my hair, right before he started to go back to his mini rumble with his suitcase. "You're probably just nervous because this is our official first ever vacation without our parents, and we're leavin' our home town, _and_ we're bringing our knucklehead friends along."

I bit down on my bottom lip again and hesitated, taking in and heavily digesting every one of Soda's words. I felt as if I was getting yanked into two separate parts in a vicious game of tug-a-war. One half of me wanted to believe him without a doubt, like I always did whenever he would tell me something. However, the other half of me was still stuck sinking hard like a rock, trying to cope with this sudden illness that was in the pit of my stomach. But Soda was never wrong about any direction that he steered me in, whether it was with Darry's help or not. He wouldn't start steering me wrong now, right?

I shrugged, going back to watching Pepsi-Cola trying to shut his refusing suitcase. "Well...I guess that it is a possibility that I _am _a little bit nervous..."

"Well, there is no need to be, baby brother. I promise you that this will be thee _best_ first ever vacation in the history of first ever vacations!" Soda assured in the most excited and hyper tone that I could've sworn I've ever heard fly out of his mouth.

A grin found its way across my face, but my stomach still refused to get rid of the sour knot that only seemed to be tightening by the minute.

I continued to watch Soda's suitcase refuse to shut, no matter how much strength he put into his forces. Finally, about after fifteen or so seconds, Soda stopped his pushing and turned his attention back over to me.

He then took in a deep, but soft breath and held it in for a few seconds. After that, he puffed his bangs out from dangling in front of his eyes, forming yet another one of his handsome grins and offering me it afterwards.

"Hey, Pony?" He breathed.

I playfully attempted to raise an eyebrow, acting as if I didn't know what he was going to say. "Yeah, Soda?"

"Would you mind helping me close my suitcase? It's being awfully stubborn and not cooperating with me at all."

No matter how much I tried not to laugh, I couldn't help myself to do so. I ended up laughing so much that I could only nod my head in response, and Soda attempted to look stern, but he cracked after no less than five seconds. He playfully smirked at me and shook his head, right before he jokingly punched me in the arm.

The two of us ended up positioning ourselves so we were sitting directly on top of the suitcase, our backs resting against each other. However, when that didn't fully work as Soda planned, we ended up bouncing ourselves a little up and down so we could crush his "small" pile of clothes down once and for all. Much to Soda's and my relief then, we were finally able to successfully shut up the suitcase, and Soda latched it shut.

I crossed my eyes over my chest and formed a small smirk. "You know, Soda, this would've been a whole lot easier if you had decided to pack_ less _and if you actually_ folded_ your clothes like Darry and I." I smartly informed him in a joking as-a-matter-of-fact voice.

In return, Soda raised an eyebrow and kept his voice to himself, but when he didn't think that I would see it coming, he grabbed and placed me in a headlock. I couldn't help myself to laugh all over again as he jokingly ruffled up my hair some more, and he said to me: "Nah, let's not get crazy, Ponyboy. That's too much work and I'm too excited to actually take my time!"

Lost in mine and Soda's brotherly bonding, my excitement for this vacation didn't wait to begin expanding, and it eagerly took over one half of me. Unfortunately, that had my leftover half with my uncertainty towards The County Lodge growing more intense along the side. I bet that others always think things like that first vacations are always the best, right?...Wrong...

_Darry's POV_

All right, all of the bills were paid, my luggage for Kansas was all packed, and I had just finished calling The County Lodge and making reservations for my kid brothers, myself, and the gang. Like I suspected, The County Lodge was an expensive place to go for a vacation, but I didn't was to disappoint Ponyboy and Soda after they got all riled up with complete joy and excitement towards my approval. That, and the rest of the gang had already left by my orders to go get their things all packed up.

With the remains of my money, along with Ponyboy and Soda's paychecks, I was able to afford renting four of The County Lodge's rooms for the whole winter break. By what the man over the phone told me, there were two double-beds in each room, so that meant some of the gang will have more roommates than others. Actually, that's what I was now busy working out on.

At the kitchen table, I was plotting out on a scrap sheet of paper who was bunking with who throughout our winter break away from Tulsa. Believe it or not, it wasn't as easy as it may sound since not everybody from the gang got along 24/7, but however I decided the rooming arrangements, that's what they were going to be. No arguments, no disagreements, no nothing like that.

Suddenly, I could hear the sound of the front door flying open, followed by the sound of the chilly wind whistling all around. I confusedly raised an eyebrow and turned my attention towards the arch doorway as a loud _BANG _was heard, meaning that the door slammed shut.

"Hey, Curtis'!" The sound of Two-Bit's voice howled as he came strolling into the kitchen, holding a brown duffle bag in one of his hands. On his face, he was wearing one of his large, goofy smiles, and his eyes were glowing with pleasure. "Hey, Superman. Where are Ponyboy and Soda at already?"

My eyebrow remained confusedly cocked, studying Two-Bit from the bottom of his waterproof boots, to the top of his head, which he was covering up with a Mickey Mouse wool hat.

"They're still upstairs. How in the heck did you pack your things so fast for our winter break vacation away from Tulsa?" I questioned.

Still grinning his cheesy smile, Two-Bit decided to hand his brown duffle bag over to me. My eyes concernedly narrowed, but I went ahead and grabbed the straps anyway. When Two-Bit took his hands away, I could feel how light his luggage was. It hardly even felt like anything was packed up for him at all.

"Two-Bit," I firmly spoke. "Did you even pack anything in here?"

At my stern language, Two-Bit released his loud laughter. "Superman, aren't you forgetting who you're talkin' to? I don't mind wearing the same pairs of clothes more than once!"

I rolled my eyes and actually threw Two-Bit's stuff back into his arms, not being completely rough, but I wasn't being gentle. "See, Two-Bit, this is why I'm glad that I'm not bunking with you."

The eighteen-year-old boy instantly faked a pout and let out a over dramatic gasp. "Superman, how could you? I thought you loved me!"

"Can it, Two-Bit!" I hissed and went back to studying everything that I had wrote down on the piece of scrap paper.

Again, Two-Bit allowed his echoing laughter to burst out of his system, which had me rolling my eyes again.

"Say, Superman, what are you workin' on?" Two-Bit began to stare directly over my shoulder after he sat his duffle bag down on one of the other chairs.

"The rooming schedule," I flatly replied, right before I turned my head to look into Two-Bit's eyes. Then, without waiting a single moment, I shrugged his head away. "Have you ever heard of personal space, Two-Bit?"

The wisecracker just flashed his goofy smirk at me as he rose his hands up to his shoulders, backing away from me until he was standing beside the fridge. Without asking for about the billionth time, Two-Bit didn't wait to pull himself out a bottle of beer, and I was fighting a new forming headache the best that I could without possibly unleashing my temper.

"I'm guessing you made our reservations then, huh?" Two-Bit asked as he pulled out another chair and plopped himself down beside me, but not without picking up his feet and placing them on top of the table.

"Of course I made the reservations," I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Now you'd best get your feet off from the table before you lose your opportunity to use them ever again!"

Instantly, Two-Bit swiped his feet away and allowed them to be placed where they were supposed to be. Though, his wide and cheesy grin remained on his face. Sometimes I felt like he just enjoyed bugging me and the others half of the time.

"You said that you were workin' on our bunking schedule, right?" questioned Two-Bit. I decided to only nod my head. "Well, I know already that you're not goin' to be my roommate. Who'll be mine then?"

I took in a deep breath and held it in for a couple of seconds before letting it out. "Well, since not everyone from the gang gets along all the time, this wasn't as easy as it may look or sound. Though, what I have down now will have to do. I got four rooms, two double-beds in each, and since not everyone from the gang is the same age, I've decided that everybody must be bunked with someone else that's older. Some of us will have more roommates than others, but everything will work out."

Two-Bit confusedly raised an eyebrow at me. "Uh...you never answered my question, Superman. Who will be my bunk buddy?"

I ran my hands through my hair and quietly sighed to myself, clearly getting more annoyed by the minute.

"You'll be sharing a room with Steve, Two-Bit." I flatly answered him, and his eyes sparkled up with that playful look of deviousness. Knowing Two-Bit, I could tell that he was probably going to be joking around with Steve all throughout winter break. For the first actual time, I actually felt sorry for Steve.

"Wait a minute," Two-Bit suddenly looked confused all over again. "I thought that Pepsi-Cola would be rooming with his grease monkey buddy."

I annoyingly narrowed my eyes at Two-Bit, thinking about the strange nickname that he had randomly picked out for Steve. I hesitated, not knowing what to say about it, but I sooner decided to just shake my head and let it go.

"Since Ponyboy's nightmares aren't showing any signs of going away anytime soon, he'll need me and Soda more than anything throughout our nights in Kansas. As for Johnny, he and Dally will be sharing a room, along with Cassidy and Jocelyn since they're too young to leave their older brother's side. Unfortunately, that leaves over only Kitten and Vinny to room together." I explained the whole rooming schedule.

"Don't Vinny and Kitten still hate each other?" Two-Bit confusedly raised his shoulders.

I nodded. "Very much, but I'm afraid that that's the best that I can do. There aren't any other girls in our gang to come on this trip and they obviously can't room with any of us. If Cassidy and Jocelyn weren't so young, I'd have them bunking with the two of 'em also, but they can't leave Johnnycake."

Two-Bit understandingly nodded his head and popped open "his" new bottle of beer. "Well, we can only hope for the best with 'em badass girls. If they survive the news about having to bunk together, atleast we'll know that they're trying not to murder each other...not in front of us, I mean."

"That ain't funny, Two-Bit!" I hissed, but that didn't stop him from laughing out loud all over again. I rubbed the sides of my head and released a deep, but soft breath to help myself continue to bite back on my temper.

I never really understood why Vinny and Kitten didn't get along so much. There were times where everybody in the gang had trouble getting along with someone else, but Kitten and Vinny were a different story. They couldn't even be in the same room together without flashing each other a glare or cursing under their breath about each other. Dally and Kitten got along on and off, but she and Dally's own kid sister hated each other completely.

"You excited to be drivin' all of us to Kansas, Superman?" Two-Bit suddenly asked after his laughter died down a little.

"Oh, yes, I'm just thrilled..." I joked with complete sarcasm, annoyingly grinding my teeth some when speaking.

"Superman, it won't be _that_ bad! Just think 'bout how fun it'll be for me to provide the music with my extremely talented voice!"

I've heard Two-Bit sing before...and let's just say that I'd rather hear tire tracks screeching down some road.

"Hey, Two-Bit, I have a better idea...how about you take a handful of sleeping pills before we go, and I'll have somebody wake you up when we get there." The tone of my voice and my facial expression were drop-dead serious, but I was honestly kidding around on the inside. Two-Bit knew that too, but that didn't stop him from acting stern and crossing his arms over his chest, sticking his tongue out at me shortly afterwards. It was as if he was some child that was just put in a timeout.

I seriously wish that the gang and myself knew about how dangerous our first ever vacation was going to turn out...

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_Nobody's POV_

As the hours passed, each second feeling as if it was a complete eternity in the Curtis' brothers eyes, the clock finally struck 8:00 P.M. The rest of the gang had arrived back at the Curtis' residents with their luggage all packed up in different bags and suitcases. Poor Johnny, Jocelyn, and Cassidy had to put their luggage in black garbage bags since their abusive alcoholic and drug-addict parents refused to ever "buy" anything other than clothes for them.

With no other options of transportation expect Darry's truck, the greasers knew that they would have to be pretty squished together for awhile, but they knew that they had no other choice but to make it work.

"All right," Darry announced, scanning the gang as they each stood in the freezing backyard, bundled up in their winter clothing and holding their luggage. "It's time to get this show on the road to Kansas. Just put all of your belongings in the trunk and hop in. The faster we get a move on, the faster we'll get there."

Understandingly, everybody, except Dally, nodded their heads and began to settle all of their luggage in the trunk of Darry's red truck, while the eldest Curtis jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Hey, Johnnycake," Dally hid a smirk from his face as he put his cigarette out, not needing to step on the ashes since the snow put it out right when it hit the ground. "Let me give you a hand there."

Johnny was having a difficult time trying to carry both his and Jocelyn's garbage bags in one hand, while he actually carried her in the other. So, Dally simply slid his duffle bag up his arm so the straps would rest around his shoulder. After that, he took Jocelyn and Johnny's luggage from the oldest Cade, leaving him to just have to worry about carrying his youngest baby sister.

Relieved, Johnny released a small sigh and nodded, grinning a little. "Thanks, Dal."

Coolly, Dally simply shrugged and packed away his duffle bag, along with Jocelyn and Johnny's garbage bags in the trunk of Darry's truck.

"Are we all ready to go?" asked Darry with curiousness dazzling in his eyes shortly after everyone had packed up tightly in the backseat of his truck. He held back a tiny smile at the sight of everybody all squished up, minus Dally, who was sitting in the passenger's seat since he and Darry were going to take turns driving for the long eleven or so hours.

"Darry, Steve keeps poking me in the rib!" Two-Bit complained in a completely childish tone.

Steve rolled his eyes, obviously irritated already. "It's called _breathing_, Two-Bit!"

"Hey, wait a minute..." Ponyboy spoke up with absolute confusion and feeling his winter jacket's pocket. "My wallet is gone! Who took it? I had it with me when I climbed in here!"

Two-Bit began to roll his eyes all around, and the youngest Curtis instantly shot him a glare.

"Two-Bit!" Ponyboy angrily whaled.

"All right, fine! Here's your wallet back!" Two-Bit brought out the youngest Curtis' wallet and tossed it to him, leaving Ponyboy to open it up and check to see if any of his money was missing.

"_This _is going to be a _long _ride..." Darry quietly muttered to himself under his breath, right before he fixed the radio so some Elvis tunes could be played. After that, he backed his truck out from the driveway and took off, beginning their journey to Kansas.

However, nobody knew what gigantic trouble that they were just leading themselves into...

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD The more reviews I get, the faster my updates will be! ;) ;)**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks, everybody! :D :D :D :D**


	3. Possible Warning Signs?

**A/N: I want to take a moment to thank you all who reviewed my last chapter! It really does mean a lot! Remember, more reviews mean faster updates! ;) ;)**

**I'm having such a great time writing this story for you all! I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I'm having a tuff time writing it! Now, I hope you all enjoy chapter three! Review please! :D**

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_Darry's POV_

Before leaving for Kansas, I already figured that this road trip was going to be harder than anyone in the gang could ever imagine. However, I'm afraid that we were all _desperately _wrong when debating how difficult it was going to be when being all squished together and trying to make the time fly without irritating anybody else. The full eleven hours were full of Two-Bit's wisecracking jokes and noisy laughter, Kitten and Vinny's cold stares and rivalry towards each other, Steve's annoyed bickering, and anything else anybody could ever imagine with major knuckleheads like my kid brothers and group of pals.

Thankfully, Ponyboy used his head for one of those rare times and prepared to bring a book for him to read on the way there. I believe that it was called _Gone With The Wind _or something among those lines, and I could've sworn that my old man used to tell me a whole lot about that book. See, I wasn't as much of a reader as Pony, but I still gave books a crack, unlike Pepsi-Cola. Back when my parents were around, I would take my time to read to Ponyboy and read some on my free time as well. Unfortunately, after having a couple of members of the fuzz report to my house to tell Ponyboy, Soda, and myself the regretful news about our parents, I placed my book reading aside. I ended up beginning to read the newspaper, but nothing was ever as interesting compared to the books that I used to read a long time ago.

Surprisingly, Soda had managed to close his eyes and get some sleep for what seemed like the entire ride. I bet that he only woke up three or four times ever since he first grew tired and decided to rest, which was something that he rarely ever considered an option. Though, I couldn't blame him. Being all cramped up in my truck with nothing but the radio to keep you entertained wasn't exactly a thrilling option to turn to after driving for so long. Nonetheless, that didn't stop Dally from controlling the radio with every chance he got. I never allowed him to turn it up to the maximum volume that he wanted, and I refused to let him play some specific songs that he had in mind since I didn't want Cassidy, Jocelyn, or my kid brothers to store such dirty meanings and language in their young minds.

I swear, seeing Sodapop sleep without a single piece of any care in the world detailed on his peaceful face brought back so many memories. He looked no different from his childhood self, and his happy-go-lucky attitude certainly didn't change either. That golden blonde hair of his was still long and drenched in hair grease, dangling in front of his soft brown eyes as he either gazed down at the floor or laid back in bed, fast asleep. His mouth was slimly dangling open, and he was softly taking in and letting out relaxing breaths as his head rested against Ponyboy's shoulder. Honestly, I think Pony was too lost in his book to even notice. No matter how much Pepsi-Cola softly snored, Ponyboy's eyes wouldn't remove from a single page of his book. That honestly had me quietly laughing to myself.

By the time we all _finally _arrived to Kansas, it was a little passed 7:00 in the morning. Atleast we got there a lot earlier than I thought we would. Though, I was sure that we would've gotten there even earlier if I wouldn't have had to pull over atleast every two hours so the rest of the gang could hop out of the truck to stretch their sore muscles and catch a smoke break. I would always remain in my truck the entire time, holding Jocelyn on my lap whenever the rest of the gang climbed out, but after every three or so hours, Dally and I would switch places and take turns being behind the wheel.

I was now in the passenger's seat, resting my eyes as my head faced in the direction of my window. Since it was winter, 7:00 wasn't as bright as it was during the other three seasons, so I had to make sure that Dally was driving with the headlights still on. Not only that, but I had to make sure he was keeping his hands away from the radio. Jocelyn had finished crying after going on for about an hour straight after driving for nine hours, so everybody was exhausted when her ear-splitting squeals wrapped up. Eventually, the whole gang, minus Dally and myself, were out like lights.

"Hey, Darry?" I heard the sound of Ponyboy's voice around 7:10, and I could tell by his tone that he had just woke up. It then wasn't long before I began to hear other soft yawns and moans, which instantly informed me that the whole gang was waking up.

"Yeah, Ponyboy?" I held back a yawn the best that I could as I cracked my eyes open. In the distance, it seemed like I could see the bright colors of the sunrise beginning to form in the sky, but Kansas still seemed pretty dark during the winter, until possibly around 8:00 is what I'm guessing.

"I'm hungry..." Pony suddenly moaned with what sounded like plead to me, and he rubbed his eyes with his balled up fists.

My eyes grew, and I raised my eyebrows as I looked over my shoulder to see my kid brothers now glancing at me with their puppy dog faces. As for the rest of the gang, they were beginning to softly groan themselves at the mention of food. Now that I think about it, I don't believe that any of us even ate anything since yesterday when I made lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't bother to pack any snacks or drinks for us to have while we were on the road. I figured that each of us had strong stomachs to hold out on, but I'm afraid that that was a major mistake on my part. I should've known that eleven hours straight in a cramped up truck wasn't going to be any better without anything to fill up on.

Hiding my embarrassment, I scratched the back of my neck and began to look anywhere but at my kid brothers or the gang. The last thing we needed was to make this road trip somehow possibly any worse by saying that Superman made a bad move. It was always his job to make sure that everything was great with everybody, helping out with every problem and not caring if it was big or small. I was Superman in the gang's eyes ever since we were in our childhood years...and I honestly planned to keep it that way.

"Well, I'm afraid that we don't have any food or drinks with us, but I bet that our luck will change when we reach the next gas station." I instructed with the best small grin that I could pull in a time like that. I then turned my head so I could look at Dally, who hadn't taken his eyes off from the road. It was a good thing that Jocelyn and Cassidy were going on this trip with us, because I've seen the way Dallas has driven a car. He was absolutely reckless on the road, mockingly laughing at the top of his lungs when he cut other vehicles off and cursed out the windows at other people just for kicks. But not when he had the little girl Cade's to protect.

"Hey, Dally, when we get to the next gas station, would you mind heading in and paying for a fill up? And not to mention if you can see if there is any food or drinks?" I asked.

In return, Dally shrugged, only giving me one quick glimpse of a stare before he focused back on the road. "I guess I can since I really don't have any of my own saying here, but I'm going to need a hand."

Ignoring what he first said about not having any other option to choose from, I just shrugged one shoulder and hid my forming annoyance towards the roughest hood in our gang. Then I peered back around, studying the rest of the group to see which one of them I thought would be able to get out of the truck and help Dally. I could tell that Vinny, Two-Bit, and Steve wouldn't work out, because they would obviously irritate the heck out of Dally just after hopping out of the trunk. As for Sodapop and Ponyboy, they were beginning to go back to resting their eyes, and Kitten wasn't the type of greaser girl you would want to talk to in the morning until the sun was seen completely. Taking all of them out of consideration, that just left the single easiest option.

"Hey, Johnny," I spoke up, and his black eyes instantly popped open after being tempted to close again. "Would you mind goin' into the next gas station with Dally and helping him out with any food or drinks?"

At first, like Johnny would always do, he kept his mouth shut so he could think about each word that was spoken to him. Though, I waited patiently, and soon enough, he shrugged and said: "...I don't see why not."

I offered him a small smile and nodded a single time. "Thanks, Johnny."

In return, he simply shrugged again and couldn't help himself to grin a little bit. Knowing Johnny, he rarely smiled since his home life wasn't such a gigantic ray of sunshine, so seeing just the smallest upward twitch on his lips had anybody in the gang brighten up. I think Johnny mostly grinned around Ponyboy and Kitten, because they were the ones he hung out with the most out of everyone in the group. Who could ever be against such an innocent kid like Johnnycake?

As I turned myself back around in my seat, I didn't wait to lay my head back and go back to relaxing my eyes shut. Quietly, I breathed and began to daydream like Ponyboy would do if he wasn't so sleepy.

This was our first vacation with the gang and without our parents. Our parents...it seemed just like yesterday I was that little boy who would be gently shook awake by my mother. She would allow her long, silky, golden blonde curls to dangle and tickle my face as she gently shook me, telling me softly that it was time to get up. At some times, I would listen and open up my eyes so I would be greeted with the sight of her beautiful eyes, which I always loved to see twinkling in the light. Freckles decorated some below her eyes, and her smile was so comforting and addictive. When it was gone, you'd just want to have it back all to yourself.

As for other times when I would refuse to get up, my father would casually stroll in and have Soda bounce all up and down on my bed while he dug his fingers into my flesh and tickled me to death. He would be playfully teasing me as I trashed and laughed with all of my energy, saying things like: "What's so funny, Junior?" or "You've been a naughty young man and naughty young men need to be taught a lesson with my good friend, the Tickle Monster!" It wouldn't be long before the younger toddler version of Ponyboy would come in on his wobbly knees, dressed in his footsy pajamas; dragging his baby blanket behind him and sucking his thumb as he giggled adorably at the sight. Before either of my kid brothers would see it coming though, our father would give me a wink, and I knew what that meant. We would both playfully take turns tickling the daylights out of Pony and Soda after our father got them gleefully pinned down on my mattress.

Mom would call all four of us down for breakfast, fixing up her world-famous pancakes and some eggs and bacon to go on the side. There were times where Soda, Ponyboy, and I would beg her to allow us to have just one slice of her absolutely delicious chocolate cake for breakfast too, but she would deny our pleads pretty much every morning. No sweets of any kind until after dinner; that's what she always told us with a wag of her finger. Nonetheless, that didn't stop Dad from sometimes backing us up and sweet-talking Mom into letting us have chocolate cake for breakfast. Honestly, I would usually lose my appetite after hearing the two of them sweet-talk back and forth.

Unfortunately, all of that was now gone, leaving just the memories that would forever be with my kid brothers and I. Though, no matter how old Ponyboy, Pepsi-Cola, or I have gotten since the horrible day when we lost our folks, we would never stop taking turns with tickling each other into hysterics every morning. That, and we always had chocolate cake available for the take during breakfast, whether I liked it or not since I wasn't the only family member who could cook anymore.

"...Darry..." The sound of Dally's voice suddenly spoke up and cut my daydreaming away. Slowly, I reopened my eyes and turned my attention towards him. Strangely, he was squinting and leaning over a bit in the direction of the wheel, as if he was trying to look through something. The snow surprisingly wasn't as bad in Kansas as it was back in Tulsa, so there wasn't anymore ice or frost on the windshield. Dally couldn't have been trying to spy out of something that was now completely clear.

Confusion instantly swiped across my face, and I sat up straight. "What is it, Dallas?"

"Um...I think that there's something in the middle of the road up ahead." Dally told me, the tone of his voice mixed with his usual coolness, and a tiny amount of confusion.

I cocked an eyebrow and turned my attention back in front of me. As Dally continued to drive, I could see through the windshield that there was this tall looking dark figure, standing there directly in the middle of the icy road like there was nothing to be worried about. Since it was still dim outside, I couldn't see his or her face, nor could I tell who it was directly. Though, I instantly could tell that there _was _somebody out there.

"Oh my god..." My eyes went wide as Dally went on driving, only so the figure could approach by the second without moving their feet from their spot.

"What in the hell is that person doin' in the middle of the road?" Dally quietly went on cursing every word in the book to himself with a new mixture of anger and annoyance in his voice.

"Who's in the middle of the road?" Two-Bit blurted out a little too loudly, and before Dally or I could see it coming, everybody was glancing forward like their lives depended on it.

The dark figure still wasn't moving from where he or she was standing on the road, but it looked like to me that they were wearing an oversized winter jacket, a floppy looking rain hat, and a pair of heavy looking boots, as if they were a pair of army boots. In one of their hands, they were holding this long stick like object...I think it was a hockey stick.

Johnny paled, instantly looking sick to his stomach as he slumped back and held the snuggling Jocelyn to his chest with one of his arms. His other arm wrapped around Cassidy's waist and he pulled her to his side, tightly holding her and Jocelyn as if they were hiding in a small space from their parents.

"Johnnycake, who's that?" Cassidy softly asked. You could obviously hear the fear in her shaky tone, but all Johnny did in response was stroke her hair and quietly shush her a couple of times.

Dally suddenly began to pound one of his fists on the horn, making my truck release many loud honking noises that seemed to echo all throughout the air. Everybody in the backseat flew their hands up to their ears and clenched their eyes tightly shut.

My eyes shot huge all over again, and I quickly snapped my attention back on Dally to see how red his face was now beating. His lips were furiously pulled back, revealing his grinding teeth, and it looked as if he was looking at the horn like it was some Soc.

"Dally!" I didn't wait another moment to grasp a hold of his wrist just as he flew it back in the air for another shot at the horn. Angrily, he bucked his arm around and struggled until I finally allowed myself to release his wrist, and he went back to grasping the wheel with both hands. "Dallas, are you freaking insane?" I demanded to know, raising my voice while I was at it.

"No!" exclaimed the bitter as hell Dallas Winston. "But I will tell you who _is _freaking insane! That damn person who won't move their freaking feet! We're runnin' out of road until the front of your truck meets 'em!"

Was this person attempting suicide or something? He or she still refused to move from where they were in the middle of the road, and as much as I'd hate to admit it, Dally had a point. It wouldn't be long before we would bash into this shadowy figure, but I wasn't giving up on getting them to move out of the way before it was too late.

"Darry, what are they doing?" Ponyboy asked with a slimly nervous tone.

"I honestly don't know, Pony," I didn't want to admit to the gang that I thought that this figure actually _was _right in the middle of a suicide attempt. And my truck was the vehicle that would take his or her life away. How could this road trip _possibility _get any worse?

Soda wrapped his arms around Ponyboy and held him close. I could've sworn Kitten was beginning to hold back tears by the looks of her pleading green eyes. Steve was biting down on one of his thumbnails, looking as nervous as hell, and Two-Bit had slung one of his arms around Johnny's shoulders to help comfort him and his kid sisters. Lastly, Vinny looked just like Dally, beating red with bitter anger heavily contained in her hazel eyes. She obviously wasn't in the mood for something like this, especially after driving for eleven hours straight.

I decided to roll down my window and poke my head out. My eyes squinted as the cold wind harshly blew, smacking across my face and whistling sharply through my hair. "Hey!" I called out to the dark figure, but they didn't seem to notice me. "Hey! Get out of the way!" I began to fan one of my hands, as if I was slapping the air in order to get him or her to understand what I was doing better. However, all that happened was the dark figure suddenly rose the long, stick like object that she or he was holding in one of their hands. My eyes shot huge out of shock, and I took no hesitation to fly myself back into my truck. After that, I instantly rolled my window all the way back up, locking all of the windows and making sure that every door was locked while I was at it. It looked like to me that that shadowy figure was planning to take a swing at my truck.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Dally suddenly bellowed out, which had Johnny paling more by the minute as he quickly covered Jocelyn and Cassidy's ears.

"Dallas Christopher Winston, stop the damn truck!" I practically screeched and clenched my eyes shut, just as everybody else, minus Vinny and Dally, began to scream at the top of their lungs like their lives depended on it.

At the full name card, Dally took no hesitation to obey my order, and he harshly slammed his foot down onto the break. The tires of my truck loudly screeched along the road, and everyone continued to scream as they tightly closed their eyes. I clenched my seatbelt and refused to fly forward the best that I could, leaving Dally to continue grasping the wheel to the point where his knuckles were going pale. Luckily, my truck finally came to a sharp stop, but not without flying everybody forward some. Thank God that we were all wearing our seatbelts.

"Is everyone okay?" I nervously spoke up and quickly turned myself around in my seat to notice how sick my kid brothers and the gang now looked. Jocelyn had began to cry instantly after everyone else began to scream like tomorrow didn't exist, so now Johnny was rubbing her back and soothingly shushing her the best that he could as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, we're okay, Darry..." Soda softly assured and stroked Ponyboy's hair just to make sure that he was alright, too.

Two-Bit confusedly cocked an eyebrow, quietly catching his breath. "Who in their right mind would just stand in the middle of the road like that?"

I could tell that he was referring to the shadowy figure, but before I could say anything back, Dally said: "Well, whoever that ass was, he or she is gone now."

My eyes went huge, and I quickly snapped my attention back in front. The dark figure was no longer there, as if nobody was there to begin with. Confusedly, I raised my eyebrows and rubbed my eyes with my fists. Where in the world...were my eyes just playing tricks? I know for a fact that we didn't run the shadowy figure over; we would've been able to feel the wheels climb up and back down if we ever hit anything.

"Where in the almighty hell could've that jerk went?" Vinny sassily rolled her eyes and went on mumbling every word in the book to herself.

Dally simply shrugged one of his shoulders, right before he rolled down his window and poked his head out. "Hey!" He then called out, the tone of his voice full of bitterness all over again. We all knew that he was looking all around to see if he could spot that shadowy figure, but no matter where he looked, that person was gone.

"Hey! Jackass who we almost slammed because you wouldn't move your freaking feet! Where are you?" Dally practically hollered out at the top of his lungs.

"Dally!" I annoyingly rolled my eyes and did a face-palm. "We don't have time for this! Just keep driving!"

I could've sworn Dally went on cursing under his breath as he stuck his head back into the truck, but I didn't give a hang. Though, I could've sworn that when he rolled his window back up that there was a rustle coming from the distance. Me, being annoyed and confused at the same time, just acted as if there wasn't anything heard. It's not like anybody else heard it besides me anyway.

"I don't think any of us should worry about this," I spoke up shortly after Dallas began to drive again. "I mean, we're all still pretty tired and it's not that bright out yet. Our eyes were probably just playing tricks on us."

Ponyboy, however, didn't look satisfied with my words. He was actually nervously rubbing his hands together, and a pout was plastered on his face. "I don't know, Darry...that figure looked real to me..."

I shook my head and quietly sighed. "Ponyboy, there is nothing to be nervous over, okay? There was no figure that we saw to begin with. It's all just the dimness outside messing with us and our systems aren't fully awaken."

Cassidy gulped a little, still remaining snuggled close to Johnny's side with his arm wrapped securely around her. "Are you sure, Darry?"

"Positive," I nodded. "Let's just relax and go back to thinking about how this is a vacation. We didn't travel all this way to just be frightened or worried about some dark figure that was just a figment of our imaginations. We came here to get away from our home town and enjoy ourselves, so let's just relax on this vacation and have some fun while we can, all right?"

Soda scratched his chin with his free hand's index finger, allowing a small smile to curl up on his lips. "Yeah, vacations aren't meant to be wasted like this. And besides, who would bother to stand in the middle of the road like that?"

A bit hesitantly, Ponyboy sooner nodded his head with agreement and released a sigh of complete relief. "I guess that we're probably just not adjusted to bein' out of Tulsa just yet."

"Exactly," I agreed and turned back around in my seat, but not without spotting the group and my kid brothers in the mirror as they began to settle down again and go back to resting their eyes, now relieved completely.

Unfortunately, I should've known that nothing _that _real could be a part of _anybody's _imagination...and I honestly couldn't believe that no one noticed how somebody was slowly following us on foot.

_Dally's POV_

I honestly don't give a damn what Darry says about that shadowy figure, but I sure as hell wasn't going to say that just after everybody finally shut their freaking mouths. I might take other things that Darry says into consideration here and there, but I know exactly what I saw. That dim person was nothing but a complete jackass for standing there in the middle of the road, as if they were attempting suicide. I bet that that was the case, but suicide wasn't the answer to any problem. I know that might sound like a steaming pile of horse crap coming from me, but I truthfully don't believe that suicide is any solution to any kind of problem. Unfortunately, I came so close to learning that the hard way after Johnny's "death," but atleast the gang stopped the fuzz from shooting me.

No matter how much I tried to take that shadowy figure off from my mind, there was this pathetic feeling inside of me that was somehow telling me something. It was as if something wasn't right, but I didn't give a hang. I'm just glad that that figure was gone. Now he or she could go ahead and try taking their own life with some different vehicle.

By the time that we had _finally _reached the next gas station, and just in time too, the clock had struck 7:45 or somethin' around those lines. The sunrise was beginning to fade, and the clear blue shade of the morning sky was coming around, but again, I didn't give a hang about anything like that. I just wanted to get the hell to The County Lodge and actually _start_ this vacation.

As I parked the truck in front of a gas pump, Darry dug one of his hands into his jeans pocket and pulled out a couple of dollar bills. "All right, Dally, here's some money for the gas. As for any food or drinks, do you have any other money on you? I need to make sure I still keep some of my own for our rooms, our meals, and whatever else we need at The County Lodge." Darry said as I simply took the money from him.

"Yeah, I got money. I ain't cheap when it comes to my gambling with the Shepard's." I pointed out as I unbuckled my seatbelt and grabbed a hold of the doorknob.

I caught a glimpse of Darry rolling his eyes at me, but all I did was slightly smirk in spite of myself and open up the door so I could hop out. Johnny came climbing out from the backseat after handing the sleepy Jocelyn over to Soda or somebody else shortly after I began to fill up Darry's truck. You were actually supposed to pay before using any of the gas pumps, but no matter where I traveled, I would always believe that doing things the legal way was overrated.

Johnny took a moment to stretch his arms and legs out loudly, right before he took in a deep breath of the cool morning air. After that, he simply leaned against the red truck with his hands now resting in his jean jacket's pockets, and he kept his mouth shut as he waited for me. Those bitchy folks of his really made him and Cassidy too quiet, and if they kept their abusive ways up, Jocelyn was only going to grow to turn out like that, too. But not on my watch; I'll make sure to deal with Mr. and Mrs. Cade once and for all whence we get back to Tulsa.

"...How come there aren't any others cars 'round, Dal?" Johnny quietly piped up all of the sudden, and I didn't wait to start gazing all around at the rest of the gas station's pumps to realize that Johnnycake was right. We were the only ones who were actually there, but I didn't think that it was serious. I mean, it _was _winter break.

I shrugged and finished filling Darry's truck up. "Don't know, don't care, Johnnycake. Not many people are probably stayin' here for winter break. Now let's pay for any food or drinks that they got and get the hell back on the road."

I got my cursing habit from my old man, and usually I never minded cussing, but I never liked doing it in front of Johnny, Cassidy, or Jocelyn. My words just slipped out, but I acted as if they never did any harm each time.

Johnny didn't say anything back to me. He just shrugged and nodded, like he usually always did whenever he was agreeing with me. Sticking to my side like glue, Johnnycake and I entered the small gas station, where we were instantly greeted with maybe five different aisles of all kinds of magazines, candy bars, sodas and whatnot. It sort of reminded me of the DX, but was smaller, and the DX had many more aisles.

"Hello!" A sudden cheerful voice spurt out, which had Johnny leaping no less than five feet in the air from being taken off guard. His black eyes were instantly wide and fearful, but mine remained narrowed and full of seriousness as we both stared towards the direction where we heard this voice. We then noticed that it came from this teenage girl that looked about Johnny's age, and she was behind the front counter with some doll grin spread across her face.

I raised an eyebrow and studied her. She had short brown hair that was scrunched up in a bunch of silky curls, and it looked like to me that her skin had just been through a spray tan, which was nothing but an absolute waste of money, I bet. Her dark blue eyes were glimmering with joy, and she was dressed in a plain pink T-shirt and a white pair of jeans.

She pointed to this golden pin that was on her shirt, and she said: "I'm Belinda, the owner's daughter of this gas station!"

"...Do we look like we give a crap about who you are?" I uncaringly rolled my eyes, and that instantly had this Belinda's smile vanishing from her face. The joyfulness in her eyes drained away, but I just showed her the couple of bills that Darry gave me. "Look, we just need to pay for a fill up. That, and we're hoping to buy some candy bars, too."

"Oh...well, why didn't you just say so?" Belinda attempted forcing another small grin to slide across her face, but she failed whence her eyes met mine all over again. I was giving her the cold shoulder...I dug doing that to 'em broads that just annoyed me somehow.

I glanced over at Johnny, who was staring down at his new waterproof boots that I "bought" for him before we left Tulsa. "Hey, Johnnycake," I nudged him a little, and he instantly shot his head back up to gaze at me. "Go ahead and grab some candy bars. I don't care which ones you get, but just make sure that you get 'nough for 'em in the truck. Grab some Pepsi and Cokes while you're at it, too."

"All right, Dal," Johnny softly spoke and nodded his head a few times before heading off to one of the aisles to fetch what I told him.

I made my way casually up to the front counter and slammed all of the money that Darry gave me onto its surface. Belinda jumped a little, which I liked since I was used to feeding off of others fear.

"Um..." I could've sworn that I heard Belinda softly gulp as she slowly moved her twitching fingers towards mine to get the money. Soon enough, she just grabbed it and dropped it into the register. "So...I haven't seen you two 'round these parts..."

"We're out-of-towners," I flatly stated with a single roll of my eyes. "We're just here for winter break. We came with the rest of our group of pals all the way from Tulsa."

"Oh..." Belinda understandingly nodded a single time as she brought out a couple of coins from the cash register and hesitantly dropped them into my open hand. "Where are you two and the rest of your friends staying?"

I sharply narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth to bellow how it wasn't any of her damn business to know about our vacation. Unfortunately, before I could get a single word out, Johnnycake beat me to it. He must've sensed that I was going to use some new very "polite" and "gentle" terms towards this Belinda.

"We're headin' to The County Lodge." Johnny softly said, but since nobody else was in the gas station, Belinda and I could hear him quietly speaking.

All of the sudden, Belinda's dark blue eyes shot huge, as if somebody had just pointed a gun in her face, and her jaw seemed to drop all the way to the floor.

"What?" She gasped at the top of her lungs, obviously shocked.

"...What in the hell is goin' on with you?" I cocked an eyebrow and decided to use my sassiness on this broad, but she didn't seem to pay any mind to that.

By this time, Johnny had carried over no less than fourteen candy bars and cans of Coke and Pepsi. I helped him place them onto the front counter, but this bitch Belinda wouldn't ring them up.

"How could you people just go to The County Lodge like it's no big deal?" Belinda demanded to know, the tone of her voice giving it away that she was panicked about something.

"Maybe because it's _our _vacation and we can do whatever in the hell we want!" I hissed at her in a matter-of-fact-like way.

Eagerly, Belinda began to breathe heavily, and she shook her head to the point where it was as if she was going to make herself vomit. "No!" She then whaled, growing more nervous by the passing minute. "You don't understand! The County Lodge isn't someplace where you'd like to go!"

I caught a peek of how sick Johnny was beginning to look, as if he just saw a ghost, so I knew that I had to just set this Belinda straight and get back on the road ASAP.

"Look, bitchy drama queen," I firmly growled. "I don't have the slightest clue on who you think you are, but you can't just tell us, some customers, what to do on our own vacation. And if you have a problem, you should just go cry about it to your daddy."

By this point, there were tears welding up in Belinda's eyes. "My father is not alive, for your information!"

I was beginning to lose my patients, so I warningly glared at her and crossed my arms over my chest. "Well, my dad abandoned my mom when he found out that she was pregnant with me. Now my step-father treats me like horse crap and beats me with every chance he gets. Now can you stop tryin' to suck up to us and allow us to pay for our stuff so we can be on our way?"

Belinda then looked angry, and Johnny nervously stepped slowly closer to my side. His eyes were huge like saucers, swimming with both plead and worry, along with some fear also. I wasn't showing any changes of emotion, though. I honestly didn't feel any different. I was honestly only growing angrier.

"Fine, I'll ring up the damn stuff! But don't you be comin' back here, begging on your knees for me to help you if you dare to step a single foot into The County Lodge!" Belinda suddenly sounded vicious, her salty tears dripping down her face as she finally began to ring up all of the candy bars and sodas that Johnny had got.

I just rolled my eyes at her and her jackass attitude as I brought out some of my gambling money that I had got from secretly cheating out Tim and Curly.

"Just give us our candy bars and sodas..." I annoyingly groaned, and she did just that, but she harshly pushed them towards me and Johnny. As I handed her the money, she furiously snatched it from me instead of being slow and hesitant like she was the first time.

When Johnnycake and I walked back out of the gas station, I gazed over my shoulder to only see Belinda furiously glaring at me. Her face was beating red, stained with tears, and she growled the words through clenched teeth something like: "I warned you..." or something among those lines.

"Hey, Dally?" Johnny sounded scared, which really didn't sure me.

"Yeah, Johnnycake?"

"...Why do you think she was tellin' us not to go to The County Lodge?"

I bit down on my bottom lip and nibbled on it for a moment, hesitating before I finally shrugged. "She's just freaking nuts, Johnny. Don't worry 'bout her, okay? You got me and the rest of the gang, and we can face anythin' that this vacation throws at us. Now let's just hit the road again."

As Johnny climbed back into the backseat of Darry's truck and began passing out the sodas, I hopped into the passenger's seat since Darry and I switched again. I then began to carelessly hand out the candy bars to everybody, but Darry didn't bother to take one. All he wanted was a Pepsi.

"Really, Dally? Candy bars, Pepsi, and Coke?" Darry raised an eyebrow at me and gave me that voice of his that said: "You _can't _be serious!"

I looked at him and shrugged. "It's a gas station, that's all they have in there...unless you wanted us to eat magazines."

"Um..." Steve suddenly spoke up with a mouthful of chocolate. "Why is there some brunette chick glaring towards our truck?"

From the mirror, I could've sworn that Johnny instantly paled all over again, but he just went on slurping down his own Coke.

I then rolled my eyes at the mention of Belinda. "Don't worry 'bout her. She's completely loony in the head, trust me there. Let's just keep driving, okay?"

As Darry obeyed and drove us away from the gas station, I didn't think twice about there going to be anything wrong with The County Lodge like what this smartass Belinda thought. Unbelievably however, I didn't know that there were a pair of red eyes tracking us down right then and there, slowly following the truck on foot.

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD **

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	4. Arriving to The County Lodge

**A/N: Yay, another chapter for yawl! :D Thank you to those who reviewed! It really means a lot to me! Remember, the more reviews my chapters receive, the faster updates will come! ;) ;) **

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_Johnny's POV_

_Finally_...that's all that I could think when Darry pulled up in front of The County Lodge. Man, it was a whole lot bigger than I pictured that it would be, considering I always figured that every lodge was small. But then again, I'm usually always wrong when it comes to thinking certain things through. This wooden lodge was basically the size of a full hotel!

Strangely though, there weren't that many other vehicles parked in the parking lot. The entire thing was basically vacant, only having four or so other cars parked along the employee parking. As for the guest parking, there was a rusty SUV that I could've sworn that I saw before, and that was it. Out of the whole winter break, _this _was all of the people who decided to head to The County Lodge? Uh...why do I have a bad feeling about this? It was as if I could've sworn that somebody was watching us at that very moment. I was already having this sort of sick knot form in the pit of my stomach, but I honestly knew that I couldn't tell the gang that I suddenly felt homesick or something like that. My home life was already a living disaster, and after traveling for all of these hours, there was no way that we were turning back now. Besides, I basically had a jumpy feeling towards everything that I first laid my eyes on.

Two-Bit suddenly whistled, his breath scented like chocolate, which honestly had my stomach quietly grumbling. I guess that a single chocolate bar and a can of Coke wasn't good enough for my hunger after eleven hours straight in the Curtis' cramped up truck. Golly, I wonder what in the world our trip _back _to Tulsa at the end of winter break will be like.

"Golly," Two-Bit snickered, as if he had read my mind. "Would you look at the size of this place? I never knew a lodge could be this huge!"

Ponyboy secretly rolled his eyes at Two-Bit's wide smile and slimly surprised tone. "Two-Bit, a lodge isn't just a small log cabin like others portray it as, you know? A lodge could just mean a place that's used for shelter. So, I believe that The County Lodge is really a hotel."

I could've sworn that I had instantly flashed redder than a red bulb on a Christmas tree. Embarrassment had struck me, but I hid it the best that I could as I scratched the back of my neck and gazed anywhere that wasn't in my kid sisters or any of the gang's eyes. I honestly thought that we were going to be staying in this little log cabin, because that's the only lodge that I ever pictured in my mind. I should've known that I was going to be wrong.

Steve rolled his eyes at Ponyboy's smartness. "Whatever," He then growled. "Let's just get out of this truck before my legs decide to stay numb forever!"

Without another moment of hesitation, the entire gang unbuckled their seatbelts and unlocked the doors, pushing them open afterwards. Darry had decided to park it not far away from the front entrance into The County Lodge, and a little close to the rusty SUV.

"Ah, freedom! _Freedom_!" Two-Bit practically chanted at the top of his lungs with overexcitement, just as he hopped out of Darry's red truck and began to freely skip around the parking lot with his arms shot up in the air.

Vinny confusedly raised an eyebrow at Two-Bit after she got out of the truck herself, and she walked over to the other side only to see him committing yet another one of his childish antics.

Steve irritatingly ran his hands through his hair, probably cursing in his head about how he had to share a room with Two-Bit throughout the whole winter break. Darry had explained to each of us just as we were about maybe fifteen or so minutes away from The County Lodge about the bunking arrangements. Nobody seemed to mind who they were rooming with, especially me since I got my kid sisters and Dally rooming with me. Unfortunately, Kitten and Vinny ended up cussing with absolute rage and firing back and forth many dirty insults to the point where I had to cover Cassidy and Jocelyn's ears all over again. Atleast Steve kept his irritated feelings to himself, cursing under his breath to himself and scowling away at the madly grinning Two-Bit.

"...What in the hell is wrong in your head, Mathews?" Steve hissed as he rubbed the sides of his head. That time, Cassidy covered her own ears, and I gently took a hold of one of her arms so she could hop out from the truck. I was holding Jocelyn in my free arm, and she was simply drooling on some of her fingers as she sucked on them, and she rested her bouncy; jet-black curls on my shoulder.

"A whole lot if it means gettin' to have a blast!" Two-Bit released his rare laughter as he continued to skip around the parking lot.

Darry looked unpleased, rolling his eyes as he grumbled something to himself that I didn't catch, but I could tell that he was beginning to grow impatient already. We technically never even began this winter vacation, and he was already getting annoyed by our behavior.

As everybody began to groan softly as they stretched their arms and legs, and Darry headed to the trunk so he could start taking out our luggage, Vinny suddenly leaned over towards me. At first, I thought that it was because she was stretching too, but I was proven wrong when I noticed that her eyes were still on Two-Bit, and she whispered close to my ear so no one else could hear her: "Is it wrong that I find his childish personality a major turn on?"

My face instantly turned bright red, and I just looked at her with huge eyes. She knew how much Dally already hated how Two-Bit has had a crush on her for God knows how long, but I've always thought that Vinny wasn't interested in Two-Bit at all. I could tell by the way that she acted around him that she wasn't interested, but I guess that moods and feelings can change sooner or later. I think that Two-Bit's already adored her since he first met her over a year or two ago at a rumble, and she was busy beating the living crap out of this one Soc with just her bare fists.

I made sure that Cassidy stuck to my side like glue, and I held Jocelyn closer to my chest as I studied how tall The County Lodge was. From where I was standing, it looked like it had maybe fifteen floors, which honestly made me begin to feel sick to my stomach since I was absolutely terrified of heights. I thought that that rollercoaster that Dally dragged me on when we were just kids at the carnival was dangerously tall, but The County Lodge definitely broke that record.

As I slowly turned my attention towards one of the windows that were close to the front doors, I could've sworn that I saw a hand quickly shoot back behind the long; slimly opened drapes. My eyes shot huge all over again and I could've sworn that I went pale for a few seconds. In every horror film I dared myself to watch, there was always somebody spying at the main victims in the very beginning.

"Hey, Johnnycake," The sound of Kitten's voice startled me, and I released a small squeak that nobody else really noticed since they were all busy getting their luggage from Darry. Kitten, on the other hand, already had her decently big; leopard-printed suitcase, and she was concernedly gazing at me after hearing me yelp.

Embarrassedly, I gulped and attempted shaking what just happened off, but it was instantly mended into my brain.

"Are you alright, Johnny?" Kitten softly asked so she probably wouldn't have anybody else swarming around me to ask a bunch of questions.

Hesitantly, I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am..."

Confusedly, Kitten's eyebrows raised. "What do you mean, you guess?"

I just looked at her and kept my mouth shut, but I could tell that she wouldn't let what I just said go if I didn't answer it. That was Kitten Elizabeth Andrews for you, though. Whenever she wanted to know something, she wouldn't let it go until she got the direct answer. You couldn't lie to hear about anything either. I swear, it's as if she, Dally, and Vinny were the top three members in the gang that came with built in lie detectors.

I peeked back over towards the same window where I was sure that I saw somebody's hand, hesitating a bit more to see if I would see it again. When I didn't after another five or so seconds though, I gulped a little embarrassedly to myself and turned my attention back towards Kitten. I could tell that her confusion and concern were only expanding.

"Johnnycake, are you sure that you're okay?" Kitten quietly asked.

Again, I nodded after a little bit of hesitation. "I'm sure...it's just...well...I think that I saw something there..."

"Where?" Kitten narrowed her eyes with concern, and I used to my free hand to point towards the one window that I could've sworn there was a hand.

Kitten didn't wait to shoot her curious eyes in the direction where I had pointed, but just like I suspected, she sooner gazed back at me and said: "I don't see anything, Johnny."

"I could've sworn that I saw this hand though, Kit-Cat! It was this pale hand...as if it was a hand that belonged to a ghost from a horror film..." My eyes went wide and I shuttered to myself at the picture of a ghost haunting The County Lodge, but all Kitten did was playfully roll her eyes at me.

"Johnnycake, there is no such things as ghosts," She giggled a little, despite trying not to. "There are some other vehicles parked along in the employee parking, and there's a SUV right there. You possibly just saw another guest, an employee, or you're just imagining things. We've been cramped up in Darry's truck all this time, so it's probably just your imagination."

I took a moment to take in and digest each of Kitten's assuring words. I then bit down on my bottom lip and nibbled on it for a moment, before shrugging my shoulders. "I guess that you could be right..." I sighed with some relief, but some nervousness still remained inside of me.

Kitten offered me a pretty grin as she gently pat me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Johnnycake. Nothin' is going to happen to us and we're going to have one memorable winter break here. By the way, Dally just wanted me to tell you that he's goin' to carry in your luggage, as well as Cassidy and Jocelyn's."

Understandingly, I nodded, even though I honestly wanted to tell Dally that he didn't have to do that. The only people Dally truly listened to from time to time was Darry and sometimes my kid sisters and I, but as for everyone else, he barely cared to hear a word. It was as if they entered through one ear and flew out the other, but that's the way Dally liked it.

"All right, now I believe that I went over what'll happen if somebody misbehaves. This is our first vacation together, and I doubt that any of us want to spend the winter break in our rooms." Darry firmly instructed with a drop-dead serious expression plastered on his face.

Two-Bit playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We dig you, Superman. We'll be on our best behaviors."

Darry narrowed his eyes at the wisecracker in a serious manner. "You know, that'd be more convincing if you weren't the one to promise us anything, Two-Bit."

Dally blew out a smoke ring from a cigarette that he had recently lit. "Come on, Darry, let's just go in already. It's freaking cold out here!"

"_Best _behaviors..." Darry sternly stated one final time as he pointed a warning finger at everyone, before Dally put out his cigarette and began leading the way with Darry. The rest of the gang followed, carrying their luggage with interest glimmering in their eyes as we headed towards The County Lodge's front glass doors.

My eyes instantly went huge, and my jaw seemed to drop straight down to the dark wooden floor after we made it inside of The County Lodge. This place was unbelievable! Fancy paintings and other wall decorations covered the brown painted wall, and there were different fancy patted chairs, along with a few rocking chairs and couches, sprawled around in a neat circle by this _huge _fireplace. A toasty fire was busy crackling away, and there were a couple of deer heads; along with a moose head mounded over the fireplace. Honestly, that made the sickness in the pit of my stomach only grow.

Nobody seemed like that they were around at all. The whole place looked as if it has been abandoned.

Confusedly, Vinny gazed left to right. "Are you sure that this place is open?"

Dally rolled his eyes. "Of course it's open! There wouldn't have been any other vehicles parked in the parking lot if it wasn't!"

"Well then, where is everybody?" Vinny sassily challenged, narrowing her eyes dangerously at Dally and placing her free hand on her hip.

"How in the hell should I know?" hissed Dally through now clenched teeth.

"Shush! Can you two just be quiet? I said that we must be on our _best _behaviors and we've only been in here for no less than a minute!" Darry informed as he headed up to the front desk, where nobody was standing. Dally and Vinny glared at each other as we each headed after Darry, standing still behind him after he slapped his hand down onto the old looking; silver bell.

When waiting, I decided to peek over my shoulder so I could focus my eyes on the window where I could've sworn I saw that hand, but it looked like nobody has been by that window. I brushed my thumb both nervously and caringly across Cassidy's knuckles as I continued to hold her hand, and in my other arm, Jocelyn was still sucking on her fingers and resting her head on my shoulder.

I started to think more about Kitten's words all over again, and I attempted convincing myself that she was right. Ghosts weren't real, that was true...but I could've sworn that something wasn't right about The County Lodge. Why else would that Belinda back at that gas station try talking Dally and I out of heading here with the rest of the gang? Quietly, I just gulped and hoped heavily that everything was just in my head.

Again, Darry rang the silver bell, but when no one still turned up, Vinny irritatingly groaned and furiously slammed a clenched fist down on top of the bell. A louder _BING _sound seemed to echo throughout the whole lodge, but Vinny didn't seem to care, even when she received Darry's warning stare; Dally and Kitten's scowls; and the rest of the gang's confused looks. Little sister like older brother.

"Some staff that this place has," Steve rolled his eyes, just as Dally went on cursing under his breath to himself. "Where in the heck are all of the employees?"

Darry opened his mouth to most likely respond, but before he could get a word to come out, squeaky footsteps were heard dashing into the room, followed by a different male voice panting out: "My apologizes for the wait!"

"Who are you?" Ponyboy unsuccessfully raised an eyebrow the best that he could after this tall man made it behind the front desk. He had dark brown skin, and his black hair was decently long, combed in complicated swirls like Steve's. I'll seriously never understand how they make their hair like that. As for this man's eyes, they were pale blue, as if he was blind, and he was dressed in a gray suit with a red tie around his neck.

Darry scratched his chin with his index finger and studied this man as he continued catching his breath.

"Hey," Darry then spoke up with complete curiousness. "Aren't you Mr. Roberts? The man I spoke with over the phone?"

Instantly, a wide smile spread across the dark brown man's face, and he nodded his head. "Yes, that's me! I'm Mr. Patrick Roberts, the owner of this fine hotel. And if you say that you talked to me on the phone, then you all must be the Curtis' group, right?"

Darry nodded, along with Ponyboy and Soda.

"I'm Darrel Curtis, sir," Darry offered out a hand like his father would do in a time like that, and Mr. Roberts didn't wait to gently grasp and shake it. "These are my kid brothers, Ponyboy and Sodapop. As for the rest of these people, they're our best pals since childhood."

Understandingly, Mr. Roberts nodded, but he suddenly had this questioning grin on his face. "So, those are their _real _names?"

Ponyboy's ears turned red as he turned his attention down to his waterproof boots. I knew how much he disliked it whenever somebody else questioned his or Soda's name because he thinks that all that's going to happen next is humiliation.

Soda, on the other hand, smiled widely and chuckled. He liked being different from everyone else, so he didn't care about what others said about him.

"Yes, sir. Our old man was a very original person." shared Sodapop.

Mr. Roberts touched his chin and examined all of us, studying from the bottom of our boots, to the top of our heads. Honestly, that made me feel very uncomfortable and unsafe all of the sudden. I wasn't so sure about Mr. Roberts...something inside of me was just making my heart leap faster with every pump it made in my chest. First there was this shadowy figure on the road that I can't forget about, followed by this Belinda's warnings at the gas station, then I could've sworn I saw somebody's hand in the window, and now I didn't feel secure about this Mr. Roberts. What's going on?

"I'm a very original father myself, so I'm not the type of judge. Just ask my daughter; she's in the feasting room with her boyfriend and some other guests that decided to come here for winter break." explained Mr. Roberts.

"Speaking of other guests," Vinny confusedly raised an eyebrow. "How come such a huge place like this doesn't have many people staying for atleast just one day of winter break?"

Mr. Roberts suddenly looked uncomfortable after he caught Vinny's question, and he started to roll his pale blue eyes all around so he couldn't stare at Darry, Dally, Kitten, or anybody in general. To me, it was as if he was afraid to admit something. I could tell that Dally must've been thinking the same exact thing, because he suddenly had that suspicious stare of his glued onto his face. His teeth were beginning to slimly grind, his lips were warningly pulled back, and his eyes were slowly beginning to sharply narrow. Though, just as Mr. Roberts' opened his mouth to most likely answer Vinny's question, a pretty female voice was heard from down the long; gigantic like hallway. It called out a single time: "Daddy!"

"Oh," A wide smile spread across Mr. Roberts' face, as if he never looked nervous. "Here comes my princess now."

This time, Vinny raised both eyebrows in confusion and exchanged her concern with mine for a split second. She then just shrugged and we all turned our attention towards the direction where we heard Mr. Roberts' daughter sweetly holler out for him. Squeaky footsteps were heard, and after a few more passing seconds, a girl who looked about my age came strolling into the main lobby of The County Lodge. Beside her, there was a blonde boy with much paler skin following her. She had long, silky looking, chocolate colored hair that was curled and flowing to the center of her back, and her eyes were like Soda's, dark brown and shimmering with everlasting life. Whoever her mother was, she must've looked more like her than her father, because the only thing that it looks like to me that she got from him was her skin color. A gorgeous smile was spread across her face, giving off the dimples on her freckled covered cheeks.

"Hi, Daddy!" Her beautiful voice rang, standing there with the blonde boy now resting his arm across her shoulders. She was wearing a plain pair of dark blue; worn out jeans, white flat shoes, and a white tank-top that was covered with different shades of blue floral designs. She was mighty beautiful, that's for sure.

"My precious Utopia!" Mr. Roberts' held out his arms, as if waiting for a hug, but soon enough, his daughter came skipping over to him until she was able to throw her arms around his neck. As for the pale blonde boy, he simply stuffed his fingerless; black gloved hands into his leather jacket's pockets, just as he coolly strolled after Mr. Roberts' daughter. No questions needed to be asked. I could tell that he must've been her boyfriend.

She flipped her dark brown hair and stared at the gang, studying them like her father did, but she suddenly stopped when her eyes met me. She grinned a little and bit down on her bottom lip, nibbling on it for a short matter of seconds before she gazed back at her dad.

"Who are these people, Daddy?" She sweetly wondered.

"These people are more guests, Utopia. They're the Curtis' group that I told you about." responded Mr. Roberts' as he motioned one of his arms towards me and the rest of the gang. He then turned his head and offered a small smile. "This is my beautiful daughter, sixteen-year-old Utopia."

Utopia, huh? Couldn't get anymore original than that...

Utopia smiled widely all over again, revealing all of her purely white teeth as she waved. "It's very nice to meet you all!"

The blonde boy flipped his long hair, bringing his hands back out of from his pockets and connecting them around Utopia's waist.

Utopia's eyes instantly lit up, and she giggled a little after she gave his cheek a kiss. "This is my boyfriend, Ashton Fisher."

This Ashton was as pale as a vampire, having bluish/grayish eyes with little specks of green dazzling in them as well. His blonde hair met a little below his jawline, barely combed and ruffled up. He was also dressed in a plain white T-shirt, a leather jacket, some cowboy looking boots, and a pair of fading; torn up jeans. To me, he looked rougher than Dally, but there was no way in heck that I was going to say _that_.

"...Sup, Curtis' reservations..." Ashton simply raised his head and tipped it back, acting as if he was one of those tough gangsters from Tim Shepard's gang. Man, he and Utopia were definitely complete opposites.

Mocking him, Dally tipped his head back and said: "What's up, Shady?"

Vinny didn't wait to nudge him hard in the ribs, which instantly had Dally releasing a soft grunt and sending her a scowl right after as he rubbed where she nudged him.

Suddenly, some more footsteps were heard coming from the creaky hallway where Utopia and Ashton just came from. Everyone turned their attention towards the huge hallway, and soon enough, two twin teenage girls that looked about Ponyboy and Kitten's age came strolling into the main lobby. One twin girl had short black hair that was scrunched up in a bunch of curls, and the other twin had much longer black and wavy hair. Both of their eyes were dark green, and their skin were different shades of tan. One twin had dark tan skin like mine and my kid sisters, but the only had much lighter skin. Unfortunately, there was one main difference that was majorly noticeable between the two twins. One of them was model thin...but the other had a showing stomach...the other twin was pregnant.

I tried not to seem so stunned, but I was sure that my eyes had shot huge to the point where it was pretty obvious. She looked so young...and she was carrying a living, breathing thing inside of her.

"Golly, that girl is..." Ponyboy began to softly speak, only so Soda could quickly cover up his mouth before he could finish.

"Shush, Pony!" Darry quietly hushed his youngest kid brother.

Utopia grinned widely at the twins, but Ashton only seemed to be slightly smiling at the pregnant one.

"Hey, Faith! Hey, Jill!" Utopia waved at the two girls.

"Hi, Utopia...are these more guests?" the non-pregnant twin questioned with a small grin on her face.

Utopia and her father nodded their heads. "Yes, Jill. This is the Curtis' residents that my father was speaking about."

That must've meant that Faith was the twin that was pregnant. She didn't want to look up after meeting Ashton's eyes, so she kept staring down at the floor and smoothing her hands around on her maternity shirt that said "Mama Bear" on it, and there was a picture of a teddy bear wearing a blue scarf. So that maybe meant that she was having a baby boy? Man...from what I picked up from health class, she looked about seven months in.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you all," Jill flashed a smile. "I'm fifteen-year-old Jill Carols and this is my little twin sister, Faith."

Shyly, Faith waved for maybe about three split seconds, but after that, she went back to rubbing her stomach.

"Um, yeah...nice to meet you, too..." I could tell that Darry was trying his best to be polite, but it wasn't easy to hide your shock towards something like this.

Jill kept grinning widely, her hands now folded and in front of her, resting against the front of her thighs as she studied us. Strangely, I had an even more uncomfortable feeling attacking me compared to when Mr. Roberts examined us.

"Where did you all come from?" Jill's eyes froze on Ponyboy, as if she was asking only him. "My kid sister and I came from New York, along with Ashton. Without us, he wouldn't have ever met Utopia."

Pony scratched the back of his neck, and I could see how his ears were beginning to turn light red towards Jill's wide smile and twinkling eyes.

"...We came from Tulsa," Ponyboy hesitated before answering, only so he could peek over at Darry and see if he approved of giving away their home area.

"Tulsa?" Mr. Roberts raised his eyebrows with concern.

Steve shrugged. "Yeah, why?"

"Well," stated Mr. Roberts. "We have three other guests who are stayin' here after traveling all the way from Tulsa. Though, I believe that they're settling in right now, so we can't meet them now."

"Can't you atleast tell us their names?" Kitten innocently questioned with a shrug of her shoulders. "I mean, Tulsa has pretty tight neighborhoods. We're bound to know these three other guests of yours."

Mr. Roberts frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid that neither of us can tell you. They asked to be unknown by any other guests unless those guests catch up with 'em. But I'm sure that you'll meet them soon enough, considering breakfast comes fast."

"Speaking of breakfast..." spoke Two-Bit as he placed his hands on his stomach. "When will it be lunchtime?"

Utopia placed her hand over her mouth and giggled, which made Ashton roll his eyes in what seemed like an uncaring manner to me.

"Very soon," Utopia answered.

Mr. Roberts nodded his head with agreement, right before he reached into some lower compartment of his desk and pulled out four different pairs of keys. Each one had a room number on them, and by the looks of it, two of our rooms were on one side of the hallway, and the other two were across on the other side. We were on the seventh floor, too. Oh man...my fear of heights were returning...

"Indeed, lunch will be ready in the feasting room soon. But before we can get to that, we should let you all get settled into your rooms and make yourselves at home." Mr. Roberts said as he handed the keys over to Darry.

Utopia seemed to be gazing at me again, and her sweet grin grew some more. "And if any of you need anything, just give me or my father a holler."

Understandingly, everybody, except Dally, nodded their heads, and we each hitched our luggage back up as we made our way towards one of the elevators. As we piled in, actually not all bunched up since the elevators were a whole lot roomier than I thought, I couldn't stop my suspicion from returning to my system. Utopia seemed alright to me, but Ashton and Jill didn't seem so secure in my mind, and Faith seemed awfully quiet. I guess Mr. Roberts wasn't _so_ bad.

Darry kept one of the keys for him, Ponyboy, and Soda, but he gave another to Steve, one other to Vinny, and the last to Dally.

"All right, let's get all settled in." Darry announced after the elevator opened up to the seventh floor. The hallways were narrow, but not extremely thin, and different staircases were behind two gray doors, one on the far west side of the curved hallway, and the other on the far east side. The walls of this hallway were painted dark purple with different little designs of fancy seashells added in, and the floor was a lighter brown wood compared to the dark brown wooden floor in the main lobby. As for the rooms, they were nothing but straight ahead from the elevator, but it looked like to me that we were possibly the only ones that had this floor to ourselves. Unfortunately, I did say _p__ossibly_...

"We'll meet up again when it's time for lunch, okay?" asked Darry after each of us got with our bunk mates and got to the whatever dark red door that said the number that on printed on our keys. The Curtis' room were on the right side of the hallway with Vinny and Kitten rooming next to them. Steve and Two-Bit, on the other hand, were bunking beside the room that Dally, Jocelyn, Cassidy, and I had, across the narrow hall.

Understandingly, the gang agreed and unlocked their doors, heading in and closing them shortly after they opened.

The room that Dally, Jocelyn, Cassidy, and I were bunking in was decently big, just like all of the other rooms. The floor was a plain white carpet, soft and amazingly clean, and the walls were painted in a sea color. A few paintings of the woods, along with the sunset, which was my favorite, hung on different spots of the wall. Two different clocks that told the same time were above the two beds, which were covered with comfortable looking dark red blankets and cozy white pillows. A closet, which I suspected was empty, was in the corner of the room, along with a body mirror and a plain lamp. A bookshelf rested against the wall, not far from another door that I figured entered a bathroom, and there were a few rocking chairs. Lastly, the view that we got from the seventh floor seemed as if you were flying in the sky, but there was no way that I was going to head over to that window. My fear of heights would only make my head hurt and make my stomach feel twisted.

"Hey, Dally, what's in this?" Cassidy innocently questioned as she entered our room, trudging Dally's other duffle bag with her the best that she could. I entered our room last, still holding Jocelyn in my arms, but it was too bad that I didn't realize that a dark figure bolted straight across the door. I just simply closed the door and locked it behind me.

Dally chuckled at Cassidy and tossed his other bag onto one of the double beds. He then tossed mine, Jocelyn, and Cassidy's luggage onto the other double bed that was closer to the window.

"Oh, that's just my knife collection. I believe I packed my heater in there, too." Dally simply shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

My eyes instantly shot huge, and I could've sworn that I turned as white as a sheet as I took no hesitation to snatch Dally's other duffle bag away from Cassidy. I then handed Jocelyn over to her, as if we were trading, but Cassidy decided to just softly lay her down in this wooden crib that was inbetween the double beds. What luck...we got the room with a crib.

"Dally, really?" I demanded to know, but I made sure that I kept my voice soft so nobody else could possibly hear us.

"Better safe than sorry, Johnnycake. We never know when trouble is just lurking 'round the corner." Dally coolly declared as he plopped himself down onto one of the comfy looking beds.

I sighed. "Dal, we're on vacation. You shouldn't have brought any of your weapons. We're not in Tulsa anymore; there aren't any Socs here or anything like that."

Dally shook his head at me. "Trouble never takes a break, Johnny. No matter where we go, it could be just waiting for us. Now let me have my knife collection."

I didn't wait to obey, knowing how tough and serious Dally was, and he snatched his other duffle bag from me after I offered it to him. Instead of unpacking and of his blades or even his heather though, Dally just slipped that other duffle bag underneath the bed that he would be sleeping in. Cassidy wanted to have me with her at all times, so we were going to share the other bed, and Jocelyn simply was in the protected middle, all bundled up in the wooden crib.

I began to help Cassidy unpack our clothes and Jocelyn's few toys, leaving Dally to just uncaringly leave his own luggage packed. That's Dally for you; he never gave a hang about any of that stuff.

_Cassidy's POV_

So far, so good. I liked The County Lodge after getting all settled in and having such a delicious lunch, followed by a fantastic dinner later on that evening in the feasting hall, back down on the first floor of The County Lodge. Mr. Roberts, Utopia, Jill, Faith, and Ashton all joined us, of course. However, whoever those three other guests from Tulsa as well were, they didn't bother to come down from their own rooms and fetch a bite to eat all day. And by the looks of how huge the feasting hall was...how come there weren't as many guests staying at The County Lodge? I still didn't understand why Mr. Roberts didn't answer that question from Vinny earlier that day.

All throughout lunch, that Jill wouldn't stop fixing her eyes back on Ponyboy. He must've noticed too, because I could see how his ears were beginning to go bright red. But neither of them said anything to each other.

As for dinner, Faith...fifteen and pregnant...didn't show up until about ten minutes after dinnertime was announced, along with Ashton...the vampire looking guy. I swear, he looked like nothing but doom and gloom, while Utopia was full of positivity and had a golden light of sunshine for a heart. _How_ could _they_ be a couple?

Later on that night, after I got dressed into my pajamas and Johnny headed off to our room's bathroom to give Jocelyn her bath, I rested on my knees in front of the window and gazed out at the stars. I just admired how they twinkled one at a time, each one somehow different from the other...just like people. Anytime I saw a shooting star, I would wish for a better life in Tulsa...no more rumbles, no more robberies, no more vandalism, no more abusive home life...unfortunately, I don't think that that wish would ever come true.

I rested my chin on my folded hands, which were laying on the windowsill, and I continued to study the stars. Sometimes I would have Ponyboy and Johnny glancing at them with me, but Johnny was busy with Jocelyn and Ponyboy already fell asleep back in his room with Darry and Soda. I believed that it was just 10:30, but it _did_ take a long time to travel here in the first place.

Dally had already fell asleep himself, shirtless and in a pair of his baggy pajama pants. He looked as peaceful as an angel sent from heaven when he was asleep...but don't be fooled. He was sleeping with one of his switchblades resting beside his bed on the nightstand.

As I continued to scan the nighttime sky, adoring each of the stars, I decided to take a risk and peek down. I was the adventurous one in my family, considering Jocelyn was just a baby and Johnnycake was terrified of heights. A mixture of eagerness and excitement instantly pooled up into my eyes as I leaned myself forward until the top of my forehead was gently meeting the frost covered glass. I couldn't see any part of the ground or anything, considering that it was so dark and snowy, but when I turned my head over just a little bit more to see if I could spot anything from a different angle...

My eyes seemed to bulge out of my head, and a terrified shrill bolted up my spine. I couldn't believe what my eyes had just met. That _exact _shadowy figure from the road was pinned to the outside wall of The County Lodge, as if he or she was climbing, and they stared right back at me from not far below from the window that entered the room that Johnny, Jocelyn, Dally, and I were staying in. The oversized winter jacket, heavy army like boots, and floppy rain hat that this dark figure was still wearing were covered with snow, but I couldn't see any part of their face except their eyes...their beating red, glowing like eyes...

I jumped far back, tripping over my own bare feet and falling straight to the carpeted floor as I let out a bloodcurdling screech.

"What in the hell!" Dally bellowed out at the top of his lungs, just as he instantly shot up into a sitting position. It was as if he wasn't ever asleep.

"Cassidy!" Johnny gasped at the top of his lungs, and I soon enough heard the water from the tub being splashed in louder than before. Johnny had grabbed Jocelyn and wrapped her bare body up into a warm towel, only so he could race back into the room to see me now shivering as I sat there on my rear end.

Dally rubbed his eyes and threw the covers off from his body, right before he quickly stood up from his bed.

"Cassidy, what happened?" Johnny was by my side in seconds, helping me up from the floor and holding me close to his side as he held Jocelyn in his other arm.

"I...I..." I was beginning to cry rapidly from being so frightened.

Johnny quietly shushed me and stroked my hair. "You what?"

I sniffled, wiping away as many tears as I could. "I saw...I saw somebody outside the window! It was...that dark figure from the road...you know, the one that Darry said _wasn't _real!"

Johnny's dark eyes went huge, and I could tell that he took down a gulp. "Are you sure, Cass?"

I eagerly nodded my head and berried my face into his pajama muscle shirt, shedding more and more salty tears by the minute.

"I knew that that freaking _thing _wasn't any damn imagination!" Dally protectively swiped up his switchblade and began to angrily make his way towards the window.

Johnny quickly covered Jocelyn's ears, and I covered my own that time, but I removed my hands just a few seconds later.

I snuggled myself closer to Johnny's side as we watched Dally stomp towards the window, but just as he shot his blade up in the air when he furiously stared out to catch the dark figure, he froze up and didn't do anything.

"What the..." Dally mumbled to himself, right before he did a face-palm and lowered his switch.

Johnny confusedly raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Dally?"

Dally turned himself back around and rolled his eyes. "There ain't no shadowy figure out there. All that's outside is the snow and the darkness."

"What?" My eyes shot huge all over again, and I quickly scampered back over to the window. Dally crossed his arms over his chest and watched as I peeked out, this time more hesitant and nervously, but to my shocking discovery, Dally was right. The dark figure was gone, as if he or she was never there to begin with. But...that's impossible! I _saw _their glowing red eyes with my own dark brown eyes! I know exactly what I saw!

"Your kid sister still must be rattled up by what happened earlier on the road, Johnnycake." Dally informed, as if I wasn't there.

"No!" I cried and flashed myself back around. "No, I saw the shadowy figure! I know what I saw! They were out there!"

Jocelyn instantly then burst into tears herself, and Johnny sighed as he began to attempt rocking her in order to help calm her back down.

"Cass, it's late, and after everything that happened on our road trip here...who knows, maybe your eyes _are _playing tricks on you..." Johnny innocently told me, which honestly struck me right in the heart. My own brother didn't believe me...

"No..." I whimpered, as if I was a lost and starving puppy. "...I know what I saw...and no matter what you guys say, I know that he or she was out there...I know it..."

Dally softly groaned at my words and ran his hands through his hair, obviously not in the mood. Johnny, on the other hand, flashed that puppy pout of his and sighed.

"Cassidy, just get into bed, all right? It's too late to discuss this now and we're all exhausted after bein' cramped up in the Curtis' truck for eleven hours straight." Johnny released a soft, tired yawn as he continued to pat the whimpering Jocelyn's bare back, and running his fingers through her damp curls.

Tears slowly continued to drench down my face as I just stared at Johnny and Dally. "I can't believe that you guys don't believe me..."

Dally rolled his eyes and took Jocelyn from Johnny's arms, taking over the comforting the best that he could. Surprisingly, Jocelyn began to settle down and suck her thumb, as if she was never crying.

"It's not that we don't believe you, Cassidy..." heavily sighed Dally, but he didn't say anything else when I tearfully shook my head at him and Johnny.

"Whatever," I snarled in sorrow, going back to wiping as many of my tears away as I could. "I know what I saw...please...just believe me, okay?"

I didn't give either of them any chance to say anything back. Instead, I walked right over to the bed that Johnny and I were going to share and I berried myself underneath the dark red covers. Quietly, I ended up whimpering myself to sleep, but not without me feeling Johnny's arms sooner protectively wrap around me around 10:40 was my guess. Dally, on the other hand, got Jocelyn diapered up and dressed into a pair of her footsy pajamas before he settled her down into the wooden crib and tucked her in. As if by magic, she was out like a light, and Dally fell asleep shortly after himself.

However, I wish that one of us had realized that those same exact red eyes were watching us from the closed and locked window at that very moment...

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD**

**Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster updates will be! ;) ;) **

**Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks, everyone! :D :D :D :D**


	5. Mysterious Secrets

**A/N: I just wanted to give a shout out to nadine1231966 and radgreasers for reviewing my last chapter! Thanks a bunch! It means a lot! :D**

**Other than that, there isn't much more for me to say here, except if you want faster updates, I'll try my hardest at that goal; depending on the amounts of reviews. ;) ;)**

**WARNING: Ashton's POV is pretty dark and shocking, but it's _NOT _graphic! **

**And yes, a new character is entering the story! :)**

**Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the others! Please review, and onward with the story! :D :)**

* * *

_Ashton's POV_

Utopia and I were hanging out on the sixth floor, in her room sometime around midnight. She didn't have a roommate unlike everybody else did. Ever since the end of dinner, Utopia decided for us to pop in a movie and cuddle on her bed when watching it. Honestly, that was boring as hell in my mind; I'm not the type of guy who adored films, especially when trying to stir up any romance. I wasn't dating Utopia just to go my level of first base, which just so happened to be cuddling and hand holding. Why else would I be eager for the evening to arrive? If you know what I mean there, that is.

Utopia rested underneath me, sexy looking in her warm pajama pants that seemed to be keeping my lower body all cozy. I was running one of my hands through her brunette locks as we locked lips, but when I attempted sliding my other hand underneath her pajama shirt, she denied me. This wasn't the first time we've made out like this, meaning that this wasn't the first time I've been rejected to setting fireworks off. I was beginning to get annoyed as hell with her, but I wasn't going to just call off our relationship after dating for about a year already. I don't date anybody for nothing.

"Ashton, don't..." Utopia softly spoke, gazing straight into my eyes with complete innocence. "My father could walk in at any moment right now..."

I rolled my eyes at her, pretending to be playful when I was only growing more irritated. "Your old man went to bed 'round 11:00, babe. There's nothin' to be worried about. Now..." Instead of saying anything else, I slowly lowered myself so I could be soothingly kissing on Utopia's neck. I felt her tense up under my lips, which had me smirking, and a soft moan escaped from her lips as she started to run one of her hands through my hair.

This confidence began to rise up on the inside of me, just like I was hoping for. Just as I began to ignore the fact that I was making out with my girlfriend in a purple painted room, and on a orange bed with heart shaped pillows surrounding us, I started to use my free hand to attempt gently unbuttoning Utopia's pajama shirt.

"No, Ashton..." Utopia took a light grasp of my wrist and shook her head at me.

I hesitated, keeping my building up anger held back as I studied her for a moment. Then I just sighed. "How come?"

A frown spread across Utopia's face, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, Ash...I'm just not ready yet."

"How can you _not _be ready?" I demanded to know, but I made sure that I was keeping my voice down. The last thing I needed was Mr. Roberts hearing me from a couple rooms down. "Babe, we're all alone in a hotel room with roses on your nightstand, and we have been making out around heart shaped pillows ever since that movie wrapped up!"

I backed off and allowed Utopia to sit up, still pouting away like a puppy with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, Ashton..." She apologized again, her voice pleading. "I just don't feel right about this right now."

I placed my hands on the opposite shoulders and faked a puppy pout. I was very good at pulling off different stunts and acts. "We've been dating for a year...how much longer do you need until the right moment arrives?"

"Honestly..." Utopia bit down on her bottom lip and hesitated. I could see the nervousness flooding up in her eyes. "...I don't know...but when it does come, I'll be sure to tell you that I'm ready."

I honestly felt as if I was beginning to keep one of my eyes from twitching. She had to be freaking kidding! She's just lucky that I'm still actually her "precious little boyfriend" after this full year of not getting lucky even once! Cuddling? Hand holding? That all isn't for me! I just want to get to my second base already! I've had many different girls like cheerleaders, hippie freaks, debaters, and just plain outsiders who practically _begged _me to go to second base already with them when I agreed to be their "special someone." Are all girls _this _crazy? Out of many beautiful females in the world, do they honestly believe that I would stick with only _one _of them forever and ever after second base? Hell no! Although, Utopia was the first and hopefully last girl that's ever rejected my attempts at setting off "love" works.

"Utopia," I sounded gentle, but I was actually starting to fight my annoyance to a whole new level on the inside. "You should know that as long as we're happily together, anytime is the perfect time to express our love to the next level." I took a careful grip of her hands and gently pressed them against fine. Our palms met and our fingers locked as we both now rested on our knees, gazing straight into each others eyes.

Utopia, however, looked unsure. She began to slowly roll her hazel eyes all over the place, staring anywhere but at me all of the sudden. Atleast that gave me the opportunity to silently mouth many cuss words to myself while I impatiently rolled my eyes.

"Ash, I..." Utopia began to speak up again, but before she could get another word to come out of her mouth, the doorknob suddenly sounded like it was suddenly being jiggled. Confusedly, I raised an eyebrow and slowly turned my head around so I could be gazing over my shoulder. When my eyes met the door, I realized that the doorknob really _was _jiggling, and that could only mean one thing. Somebody was trying to get into Utopia's room, but it couldn't have been Mr. Roberts since he had a key that unlocked every room in this hotel. As for the other guests, this hotel had some ridiculous rule about how nobody was allowed to leave their rooms passed 9:30, unless there was a fire or something like that. Utopia's old man was pretty fair, so if you left your room passed curfew, you would probably get a few warnings. Unfortunately, if you continue doing it over and over again, you would just get kicked out. I pretty much snuck out passed curfew each whenever I stayed at The County Lodge, but I never got caught. Never did, never will.

Utopia's eyes went wide, and she seemed to turn as white as a sheet, even though she was light brown.

"Oh my gosh!" She quietly exclaimed, now sounding terrified and nervous. Utopia absolutely _hated _cussing, but that didn't stop me or anyone else around her from doing it. "It's a robber! Should I call the cops?"

I rolled my eyes and slowly shook my head a few times. "Darling, I doubt that any robber would attempt sneaking into somebody's room by jiggling the doorknob. Trust me, I've been to jail enough times to know a robber's thoughts and actions like the back of my hand in the dead darkness."

Utopia blocked her now clenched shut eyes with her hands. Whimpering like a sick and lost puppy, she said: "Did you have to say d-dead, Ash?"

Again, the doorknob jiggled, but this time sounded a whole lot rougher. A soft squeak escaped Utopia's lips, and she began to tremble, as if she was wearing absolutely nothing in a blizzard. She was seriously too childish for her own good, but atleast that made it easier for me to tell her what to do here and there without her objecting or questioning me.

I snatched up my black-handle switchblade from where I placed it on Utopia's nightstand, right beside the pink vase full of yellow roses. After that, I quietly stepped my sock wearing feet down onto the light brown carpeted floor and flicked out my pointy blade, which I recently sharpened. I didn't need to look back around at Utopia to know that she was slimly peeking at me through her fingers.

"Ashton, what are you..." Utopia quietly whispered, but I cut her off.

"Shush, Utopia! You stay there...I'm goin' to go see who the jackass at your door is..."

"...Please don't swear in front of me, Ash...you know how I feel 'bout cussing."

I narrowed my eyes and rolled them at the mention of how sensitive Utopia was when it came to "bad language." They were just words! It wasn't as if a bomb would blow up every time somebody said a "bad word." Seriously, if that's how it went, the whole world wouldn't exist today. Besides...somebody is trying to get into the room, and all she's focused on is my language. Utopia _really_ had to get her head out of the clouds and grow up...she's just lucky that she's so hot.

One small step at a time, I quietly began to tiptoe over towards the door. I froze in my tracks a every time that the doorknob jiggled again, each jiggling much rougher than the last. My heart was rapidly racing in my chest, but I wasn't afraid at all. I was always prepared for a fight, especially since I quickly learned well how to defend myself after growing up with five older brothers in one tiny household.

I could've sworn that I could hear Utopia quietly, but rapidly breathing, completely fearful from where she was remaining on the bed. She was probably clenching a pillow or hiding behind her own hands again, but I wasn't going to waste another second. The moment I reached the door, I took no hesitation to quickly unlock it with my free hand and swing it open. My other hand was ready to swing my switchblade down, but strangely...nothing but dimness was out there in the hallway. Confusedly, I raised an eyebrow and poked my head out into the hallway. Slowly, I gazed left to right, but nobody was out there.

"What in the..." I went on cursing under my breath, saying every word in the book as I poked my head back into Utopia's room. I turned around, but just as I closed the door behind me, I didn't realize that a dark figure shot passed the doorframe. I was too busy staring at Utopia, who was hiding her face in one of the heart shaped pillows and trembling like tomorrow didn't exist. I rolled my eyes and cussed some more to myself.

Utopia gulped. "Who was out there?"

"Nobody," I shook my head. "I looked out there, but all that's out there is the dimness from the ceiling lights. I didn't see anyone."

"What are you talking 'bout, Ash? That's impossible...the doorknob was jiggling...it can't just do that by itself." Utopia pointed out, no longer hiding her whole face behind the heart shaped pillow.

I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged. "It was probably your old man or something. Who knows, maybe one of the new guests decided to pull a prank or something. After all, they look like the kind of group that would start trouble."

Utopia bit down on her thumbnail. "...I actually think that they're not half bad...but why would anyone want to pull such a terrifying prank passed 1:00 A.M.?"

"How in the heck should I know? Maybe Jill jiggled the doorknob and took off...you know her, she's a prankster and a late night person." I suggested, but my girlfriend still didn't shift from her unsure and scared mixed facial expression.

"I'm not sure, Ashton...do you think we should go wake up my daddy and tell him?"

"No," I shook my head at her and ran my hands through my hair, ruffling it up more. "Look...babe, like I said, it must've been a prank. There's nothin' to be scared over. Now, I think that I better get going back to my own hotel room."

Utopia's pleading puppy eyes went huge again. "No, Ash! Please stay with me tonight!"

I heavily sighed, truly growing more annoyed, and I shook my head. "Utopia, your dad checks on you in the morning. The last thing I need for a wakeup call is getting told to hide under the bed, in the closet, or something. Now, I promise you that there is _nothing _to be afraid of. Let's just both get some sleep, and the morning will be here before we know it."

Utopia nervously nibbled on her thumbnail. "But, Ashton..."

"Everything is _fine_, babe! Just get to bed, all right? I'll talk to you in the morning."

I quietly cursed under my breath to myself. "_Good-night_!"

Utopia didn't get a chance to say anything back to me. I had already opened up the door and headed out, quietly closing it behind me so I wouldn't wake Mr. Roberts up. The dimness lights in the hallway shined as I froze in my tracks and placed my hands on my hips, taking a moment to study all around. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I honestly knew that Utopia had a point. There was no way that a doorknob could jiggle on its own, but no matter how many times I examined the hallway, my eyes couldn't spot anybody. It was as if nobody else was in the whole hotel.

"...Damn freaking pranks..." I quietly hissed to myself with full irritation, right before I quickly tiptoed myself over to the end of the hallway. My room was on the ninth floor of The County Lodge, considering that Mr. Roberts wanted to keep me as far away from his "precious, little, innocent, and perfect" daughter during the night. But I wasn't going to the ninth floor...I'm not calling it a night until I get to set off some "loving" fireworks.

After waiting for the freaking elevator to arrive and I stepped in, I could've sworn that I saw this shadowy head peeking out from around the corner at the opposite end of the long hallway. Nonetheless, I just rolled my eyes, thinking that it was just my eyes messing with me, and I pressed the button that had the number eight on it. The eighth floor...Faith and Jill had that whole floor all to themselves, so I suspected that they would adore some company.

I instantly smirked and chuckled at that thought as the elevator doors reclosed, and I began my short ride up to the eighth floor. Jill and I have been as close as two peas in a pod ever since we were kids back in New York, but we decided to run away a few months ago and stay here in Kansas. As for Faith, she decided to tag along since she and Jill were just as close, and their parents were too busy with work to even notice that they existed. Faith was very hesitant around me and she barely ever said a word whenever I was around. Jill said that she was usually all hyper and a chatterbox, but she was more silent and uncomfortable even when my name popped up in a conversation.

A small _ding _rang when the elevator doors reopened on the eighth floor. I could see Jill and Faith's room from where I was standing, and I smirked all over again as I made my way towards the closed blue door. I could hear the somewhat loud music echoing from the opposite side as I was about to knock, but before I could, the door flew open. My eyes shot huge and I couldn't help myself to gasp as Faith came out into the hallway, startled when she saw me.

"Ashton Edward Fisher, what in the hell are you doin' up here? You scared me!" Faith blustered in a whisper, closing her and Jill's door behind her before speaking to me.

I raised an eyebrow and flashed my tough grin. "Were you scared to the point where your baby jumped just as high as you did?"

Faith wasn't the type of person to get furious, but after I brought up her pregnancy like that, her face grew redder than a flame of fire, and her eyes flooded with warning.

"Don't you dare bring my son into this, Ashton!" Faith ordered me in a hissing tone, as she crossed her arms protectively over her baby-bump showing stomach and forced a glare.

I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back against the dark green painted wall as I rolled my eyes. "Hey, it's _my _son too, you know?"

Faith's lips pulled back and she slightly grinded her teeth for me to see. Her eyes began to water too.

"Do you _honestly _think that I'm going to allow my baby to be raised by some rapist?" Tears were already beginning to drip out from Faith's eyes when she asked that question. Though all I did in return to answer it was smirk. Faith rolled her tearful eyes at me at my silent expression. "You're even more mixed up than I thought, Ashton! God, you're revolting..."

I snickered, not really caring about her so-called insults. I've been called worse by my parents, my brothers, and in jail. "I don't seem to remember you complaining that night when things got hot quickly between us..." I attempted wrapping my arms around her waist and leaning in for a kiss. However, Faith took no hesitation to push me away from her.

"You freaking gagged me and knocked me out in a dark alleyway with a broken beer bottle! You know how much I cried, struggling with everything I had and trying my best to scream to get somebody's attention before I blacked out thanks to that blow you gave me!" Faith wiped away as many of her steaming tears as she could. "You have _no _idea how terrible I felt when I woke up completely naked with you laying next to me, asleep with a pleasured grin on that smugly face of yours! You freaking stole my virginity, Ashton!"

I wiped my smirk off from my face and scowled, sharply narrowing my eyes and slightly clenching my teeth. "Don't freaking flatter yourself, Faith. It's not like I'm in love with you or anything."

Faith's mouth fell open to form a somewhat big 'O' shape, and more hot tears continued to stream down her face. "...And yet, you tell me that what's growing inside of me is your son as well...yeah, right...sure..." She sniffled some and wiped away more tears, right before she forced another scowl at me. "Go straight to hell, Ashton...you can go burn in flames for eternity for all I care. This is my son and _only _my son...you're just lucky that I haven't told anybody the truth...Utopia and my sister would have their hearts shattered, so I have no choice...but no matter what happens, you will _never _be the father of my baby boy."

I stared at her, not getting a chance to say anything back since she pushed me straight out of her way and continued down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" I demanded to know, even though I already had a hunch. Faith and Jill might've been very close twins, but Jill was a night person and Faith was a morning person. Faith must've been heading off to find some other room to sleep in since she did look pretty exhausted, pregnant and all.

"None of your damn business, Ashton! Now stay away from me and leave me alone!" ordered the irritated Faith, and she stomped away until she was around the corner and I couldn't see her anymore. I still wasn't giving up on lighting off any fireworks though. Faith might've rejected me and Utopia claims to _still _not be ready, but I still had one person leftover to pick from...well, _for now_, that is.

I smirked a little as I timidly knocked on the door, and within just a matter of seconds, Jill's voice rang out: "It's open!"

I ran my hands through my shagged up blonde hair, taking in a confident deep breath and letting it out softly, before I grasped a hold of the doorknob and turned it as far around as it could go. When I opened the blue door, I was instantly greeted with the sight of Jill bouncing up and down on one of the double beds, as if she was a little kid on a sugar high. Man, she looked really sexy in those neon blue pajama shorts and tight black lace tank-top. I liked the way how her short, silky, scrunched up curls bounced all around with every hop she made to the radio that she had turned on to some loud song, but at a decent volume.

"Hey, Jill," I greeted her with a small grin as I entered the bedroom and closed the door behind me. After that, I kept my back leaning against it so I could successfully lock it in secret, but it was too bad that I didn't realize that someone's heartless, wide, dark eyes were spying on me from around the corner.

Jill took one final leap into the air before she kicked her beautifully thin legs out and landed on her good-looking rear end. I just _knew _that there must've been a very excellent reason to why she was my best friend.

"What's up, Ashton?" Jill asked me with that friendly smile of hers after she had turned the radio off, creating new silence.

Coolly, I shrugged and slowly began to stroll my way towards the double bed that she was sitting on. "I can't sleep, you dig? Utopia is already out like a light and I got nothin' else better to do."

Jill crossed her arms over her chest. "You _do _realize that this place has a curfew, right?"

I smugly grinned and shrugged my shoulders again, right before I plopped myself down besides Jill. "Yeah, but so what? This ain't my first time breaking the rules, and I bet you of all people know that this is probably the _least _horrible thing that I have committed."

Knowing she couldn't object to that, Jill just softly grinned and began to fiddle around with her red painted nails.

"...What do you think about the newcomers?" Jill suddenly asked, breaking the new quietness that formed for about ten seconds.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean the Curtis' reservations?"

She nodded her head, and I instantly rolled my eyes at the mention of the Curtis' and their so-called group of pals.

"I hate them," I came right out and said the first thing that popped into my mind. "The only good thing 'bout 'em is those hot looking girls. Two redheads and even a little black-haired girl...they're pretty cute dolls, if I may say so myself."

Jill rolled her eyes at me, but continued to smile. Then she quietly laughed. "No matter where we go, you always see some girl you want to make out with or something."

I smirked and shrugged, not bothering to deny that. Besides, Jill knew me better than the back of her own hand, so she knew that I went after a lot of other girls behind Utopia's back. "What about you?" I then spoke up. "How do you feel 'bout the Curtis' residents?"

Jill scrunched up her nose, as if she was suddenly disgusted. "I don't really know, to be honest. Half of me thinks that they're alright, but the other half is extremely hesitant..." Suddenly, another grin spread widely across her face, and she giggled a little. "On the bright side, one of them are very good-looking."

I rolled my eyes, obviously not in any kind of mood to hear _that _kind of talk. I was in the mood for firework exploding off, _not _for listening to Jill talk about some crush that she has on one of the Curtis' or one of their "buddies."

"...I didn't come in here to hear that kind of talk from you, you know?" I sassily informed my best friend.

Jill's grin instantly faded from her face, but she formed a huge smirk as she playfully narrowed her eyes at me. "Oh, really? Then what kind of talk do you want to hear from me?"

My annoyance instantly drained, and I smirked ear to ear. My confidence was on fire, reaching such a higher level than ever before. "Shush, shush...no talking at all..." I chuckled at her, just as I placed one of my arms around her shoulders and gave her a flirty wink. "Let's just get down to business..."

Just like that, mine and Jill's arms were connected around each other, and our lips were smacking away; locking like tomorrow didn't exist. My hands traced up and down her back and I twirled my fingers through her curls, causing her to chuckle a bit under my lips. I ended up resting on top of her, continuing to hold my warm lips against hers as I finally decided to gently grasp the bottom of her pajama shirt and tug it up. Before I knew it, she had a hold of my pajama pants, and we were tenderly undressing each other as we continued making out. Our pajamas were sooner sprawled all over the floor, but we remained comfortably on the double bed. Though, we were too caught up in the heating and such thrilling moment that we didn't even pay any attention to how the doorknob ended up jiggling.

* * *

_Kitten's POV_

The phone on the nightstand that was inbetween mine and Vinny's beds suddenly rang loudly. I was instantly shocked out of my sleep, shooting straight up into a sitting position and grasping a giant breath as I took a moment to study all around the room to remember where I was. The sunlight was now shining through the window, telling me that it was morning already. When I glanced at the clock, I realized that it was 9:00. Man, that night flew by faster than what I thought it would. It seems just like a moment ago, Vinny and I were warning and cursing at each other as we unpacked.

Vinny loudly groaned, obviously irritated already, and she twisted her body over to the opposite direction so she could be facing away from me and the phone. She decided to take the double bed that was closer to the door, so I had the one that was closer to the window.

"Answer the freaking phone!" Vinny hissed at me, as if she was a snake. I already could tell that she was definitely _not _a morning person.

I shot my eyes angrily at her and annoyingly rolled them. Grumbling every harsh word and insult that I could think of, I ran my hands through my long; ginger hair to help get a hold of myself. After that, I leaned over and grabbed a hold of the phone, lifting it up and accepting the call.

"Hello?" I held back a yawn and rubbed one of my emerald green eyes with my free hand.

"Good morning," It was Mr. Roberts voice, but it sounded like a recording. "This is your wakeup call. Please meet downstairs for breakfast in the feasting hall. Thank you."

The call ended, and I hung the phone back up as I kicked my legs out from resting underneath the purple covers of my double bed. Then I stretched, yawning loudly just to get on Vinny's nerves, which I could tell worked because she released an annoyed groan as she slammed one of her pillows over her head and kept it clenched there. I rolled my eyes, smirking a little as I held my chuckles back and stood up.

"We got to get up," I told her, but she didn't budge from where she was laying.

"...Why?" She impatiently moaned, followed by plenty of cussing, but I pretended not to hear it. Darry told us to be on our best behaviors and we still had the entire winter break left to go through.

I simply shrugged my shoulders. "Breakfast is ready, so we need to get ready and get downstairs to the feasting hall."

Again, Vinny groaned with complete irritation. She was _seriously _just like Dally.

"Ugh...what time is it?"

"9:02."

I headed over to the closet and slid one of the doors over so I could open it. When Vinny and I settled in the night before, we regretfully had to share the closet, but I guess that it was a good thing that we were both tomboys. I had one side of the closet and she had the other, but there was still this gap that we left as it was so we could tell where we were not allowed to cross. As I pulled out a ordinary pair of worn out jeans, a plain white T-shirt, my jean jacket, and my worn out pair of brown sneakers, Vinny finally decided to climb out of bed herself. Her red hair looked as if it had been through a tornado, but I didn't bother to release any snickers. The last thing either Vinny or I needed was an argument right when we just woke up.

Just as I began to unbutton my pajama shirt and Vinny started to fix her bed, the phone suddenly rang again. That ringing was so high that it would always make somebody jump or yelp after hearing it unexpectedly go off, no matter how many times they've heard it before. I was so startled that I accidentally pulled off one of the buttons to my baggy pajama top, and Vinny had jumped what seemed like no less than five feet.

"My god, I freaking hate these damn hotel phones!" Vinny growled like a vicious junkyard dog, leaving her hand over her beating heart for a few more seconds. I kept my eyes on her, confusedly cocking my eyebrow as I finished unbuttoning my pajama top. Who could be calling this time?

I slipped off my pajama pants, and then redressed into my pair of jeans. After that, I simply pulled my plain white T-shirt on, quickly growing impatient with the phone's somewhat loud ringing. By the look on Vinny's face, I could tell that she wasn't in the mood to hear the phone continue to ring either.

I cursed quietly under my breath, before I finally spoke up loudly enough for Vinny to hear me. "Just answer it unless you want to keep hearin' that ring, Vin."

Vinny irritatingly rolled her eyes at me and grumbled something that I didn't catch, but I could tell that it wasn't anything pleasant. Nonetheless, I just kept my mouth shut and I started to swear in my head to keep my well behavior on track.

The annoying ringing finally came to an end, followed by Vinny's voice harshly going: "What, what do you want? Hello?...Hello?...Is anybody there?...Answer me!...Hello?"

Confusedly, I gazed over my shoulder, now holding my decent sized bottle of hair grease, a black hair tie, and my hairbrush. It sounded like to me that whoever was on the other end of the line wasn't bothering to say anything back to Vinny. No matter how many times she attempted greeting them in her own "welcoming" and "polite" terms, I could tell that whoever she or he was, they refused to talk back.

I raised my eyebrows and began running my hairbrush through my hair, combing out all of the tangles.

"Vinny, who is it?" I quietly asked, making sure that whoever was annoying her over the phone wouldn't hear my voice.

Vinny clenched her teeth and snarled something to herself that I couldn't quite make out. Then she slowly moved the phone down from her pierced ear, placing her free hand over the part where you talked into.

"I have no freaking idea who this person is...I think it's some kind of prank caller trying to scare us or something." Vinny annoyingly rolled her eyes and went on cussing under her breath.

I continued to comb my hair as I thought heavily about Vinny's words. Who in their right minds would attempt such a freaking crappy prank, especially early in the morning? No matter how many times I attempted to convince myself that it was probably Two-Bit messing with us, I honestly knew deep down inside that that was impossible. The only time that somebody was able to call any of the hotel rooms would be if they were using the main phone that I was guessing was in Mr. Roberts' office.

I continued to brush my hair, feeling all of the knots untangle, but my eyes were big and swarming with concern. Vinny wouldn't say another word to me either, and I knew that that meant that she was waiting for me to say something back to her.

"A prank caller?" I cocked an eyebrow, obviously confused.

Vinny rolled her eyes, as if she was saying: "Are you freaking kidding me?" But instead, she impatiently said: "That's what I said, Andrews."

I was beginning to have a more difficult time with holding back my rivalry towards Dally's kid sister. It wasn't my fault that she grew up in New York of all places, and with a rough, older, step-brother like Dally.

My emerald eyes narrowed in an annoyed manner, taking in how Vinny addressed me by my last name.

"All right, Winston," I said, allowing my strong irritation to begin seeping into my voice. I tossed my hairbrush down onto my bed, followed by my bottle of hair grease. I kept my hair tie around my wrist, and I reached my hand towards Vinny. "Just give me the phone and I'll talk to this person."

"Good luck with that," Vinny instructed with complete sarcasm, and she forced the phone into my hand without any cares. Then she stomped right passed me, nudging me out of her way so she could get over to the closet. I shot a scowl in the direction that she was heading.

"...Bitch..." I quietly mumbled under my breath, referring to Vinny. Luckily, she didn't hear me, because I still didn't want us to get into any argument. I took in a deep, soft breath and held it in for a few seconds so I could grasp a hold of myself. I then rose the phone up to my ear and greeted whoever was calling with a simple hello. It didn't take long for me to instantly become a mixture of confusion and concern, because all I heard from this person was deep breathing. Heavy breath in...heavy breath out...dark breath in...dark breath out. That's all that kept repeating, no matter how many times I asked who was calling or greeted them with more confused hellos. Every time I said something, the deep breaths only seemed to get deeper and darker, but soon enough, the line went dead, and the breathing stopped. Whoever that person was, he or she had hung up on me.

My eyes overflowed with confusion as I hesitantly brought the phone back down from my ear, hanging it back up.

When I decided to force myself to glance over at Vinny, I noticed that she was staring at me with narrowed eyes.

"...So...who in the hell was it?" Vinny asked me as she began to strip her pajamas from her body.

I plopped myself down on my bed and pulled over my worn out pair of brown tennis shoes from where they were resting at the end. I was still lost in thinking about that deep breathing. It was as if it came straight out from a horror movie, but I wasn't the type of tomboy to get scared easily. It took _a whole damn _lot to scare me, considering I grew up with a old man who took his rage out on me, until he and my mother began to tune me out so they could pay more attention to my four kid brothers. They never wanted a daughter.

"Um, hello!" I heard the sound of fingers snapping, and I quickly shook myself out of my deep thoughts to turn my attention back over to Vinny. She was now all dressed, surprisingly, and she was in the middle of brushing and greasing her hair, but not without sending me a glare while she was at it. She was now dressed in a worn out pair of white jeans, a baby-blue crop-top, a brown leather jacket, and a matching pair of dirty cowgirl boots.

I rolled my eyes and slimly grinded my teeth together. "What?"

"Who was that on the phone?" annoyingly snapped Vinny, just as a pulled on my brown tennis shoes and made sure that they were tied.

I bit down on my bottom lip and took a moment to think about the deep breathing again. Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried to fix the pieces together, I couldn't figure out who this person could've been.

"Honestly, I have no clue. Like you said before, just some freaking prank caller that's trying to scare the crap out of us." I stood on my feet again and snatched back up my bottle of hair grease.

Vinny rolled her eyes and scoffed. "If I ever find this prank caller, I'm going to make sure that I whip his or her ass into next year."

I didn't bother to say anything back to that. Instead, I just kept my mouth shut and began to grease my hair. Unfortunately, neither Vinny or I paid any attention to how there was this sudden shuffle like noise that came from underneath one of our double beds.

_Jade's POV_

Man, I loved the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair and the sun dancing on my face, especially with the windows of my car rolled down. I was the type of tomboy who was used to road trips since I left my home in Tulsa a whole lot ever since my mom and sister passed away in a auto-wreck, all thanks to a stupid drunk driver. My old man was too caught up in work to notice that I was still around, and whenever he _was_ home, he was busy disguising his pain and sorrow by drinking countless amounts of alcohol. Ever since my small family was shattered, it was just me, the open road, and my male dog; he was a honey brown, Rhodesian ridgeback that I named Zeus.

Nonetheless, it felt as if a gigantic weight lifted straight off from my chest as I drove my black, souped up, chevy corvette into the parking lot of The County Lodge. Driving for what felt like years just to spend the winter break in Kansas can _seriously _damage anyone's opinions on road trips, I'm sure.

My full name is Jadelyn Christine Thomas, but my old pals back in Tulsa stuck with calling me by my nickname, Jade.

I'm fifteen years old and at a decently good height for my age. My silky hair was mid-length, ash-black with aqua highlights applied in, and my smooth skin was a somewhat original dark tan. As for my eyes, they were like two dark pieces of chocolate, melting brown. Rarely a day would go by without a single glimpse of joy sparkling in my eyes, considering I'm a very optimistic and hyper teenager. I was very athletic too, so I was in an excellent shape, and I never dared to touch a cigarette or a single drop of alcohol after what happened to me this one time. I should've listened to my friends and never went to that party, because I didn't know that the soda that I was drinking was spiked. Unfortunately, I ended up finding out when I realized that I did the deed and God knows what else with God knows who.

That day, I was dressed in a plaid and purple T-shirt, a black leather jacket that I got on my fifteenth birthday, an old pair of dark blue jeans, and a worn our pair of black running shoes. As for jewelry, I had on a few of my many friendship bracelets, my favorite aquamarine cross necklace, and a pair of amethyst earrings.

Zeus was sitting in the backseat of my chevy corvette, his head sticking out the window as he barked and happily wagged his tail. His big dark eyes had met The County Lodge.

When I parked beside this red truck, which wasn't that far away from this rusty SUV, I instantly grew surprised. By the looks of the parking lot, there weren't many other guests that were staying at The County Lodge, but atleast there were some others instead of me being all by myself in some hotel.

I made sure that Zeus stuck his head back into the car before I rolled up all of the windows again, locking them afterwards. Zeus continued to happily howl as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened up my door.

I snickered as I climbed out, but not without snatching up Zeus' leash and my somewhat big; brown duffle-bag from the passenger's seat. "All right, boy, calm down. I'll get you out in a second."

Zeus was very well trained, but the main people he would listen to was only my parents, my sister, and I. However, since my mom and sister were no longer here, and my father was an alcoholic 24/7 hour worker, Zeus grew to understand instantly that it was his job to protect and love me. He would actually chew somebody's head off if that's what it took for him to protect me.

As I opened the backdoor, Zeus didn't wait to attempt jumping out, but I stopped him. He would never run away, but I wanted to make sure that I had his leash on him so he wouldn't chase after a noise that meant nothing, or so I could hold him back from any other guests.

Like he was trained to do, Zeus lifted his head up so I could clip his leash onto his dark red; spiked collar. After that, then I allowed him to jump out from the backseat, and I made sure that I locked the doors just in case trouble was lurking around any corner.

Zeus sat by my side and panted, obviously relaxed, and I placed my hands on my hips as I stared up at how tall The County Lodge was. I smiled ear to ear, picturing what could it possibly be like if I was staring down at the ground from the tippy-top of the whole hotel's roof. I bet a lot of people, especially teenagers, would be extremely terrified to do such a thing, but I wasn't. It took a whole lot to scare me; I actually liked scary stuff. Ghost stories, horror films, haunted houses, terrifying pranks...you name something that's supposed to be horrifying, and I'll grow to love it instantly. Spiders, heights, ghosts, goblins, vampires, witches, zombies...nope, nothing like that scared me at all. I actually laughed at all of that.

I grinned down at Zeus, giving his head a pat. "Are you ready for one memorable winter break, boy?"

Instantly, Zeus happily barked a single time, which made me giggle to myself.

I gazed around to make sure that there weren't any signs that said that no pets were allowed in the hotel, but I couldn't spot any. Thank God too, because if there was even one warning, I knew that I would have to attempt talking whoever the owner of The County Lodge was into allowing me to keep Zeus. I was mighty persuasive.

When I began to make my way towards the front glass doors of The County Lodge, Zeus scampering by my side, I couldn't help but overhear what sounded like a rustle. Zeus must've heard it too, because his ears perked up, and he began to softly snarl.

"Shush, Zeus..." I quietly, but loudly enough whispered, and Zeus obeyed. I confusedly raised my eyebrows and glanced off into the direction where I could've sworn there was a rustle like noise, but I didn't see anybody or anything in sight. It was as if all of Kansas had been abandoned.

I hummed for a moment to myself, obviously concerned about what could've made that rustling noise, but I decided to just shrug it off and I gently tugged on Zeus' leash.

"Come on, Zeus...let's get inside..."

Zeus let out some whimpers, which I knew meant that he wanted to go after whatever made that noise so he could protect me. But it was just a little rustle, so it could've just been a little bunny or maybe even a fox, right? Unfortunately, I was wrong about that...but I just tugged on Zeus' leash some more until he finally stood up and followed by my side again. It was freezing and I just wanted to get this vacation started, but I must admit that I should've taken a closer look at what or _who _made that rustling noise.

I took a deep breath as I walked into The County Lodge. I instantly grew stunned at how tuff I thought that everything looked, and not to mention how relieved I was by the warmth that was coming from a crackling fire in the fireplace. However, it was shame that I didn't realize that a pair of heartless eyes were watching me from outside.

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD **

**Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster updates will be! *Hint, hint* ;) ;)**

**Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks, everyone! :D :D :D :D**


	6. Twisted Morning

**A/N: What can I say? I can't thank you all enough for the reviews! It truly does mean a lot! The more reviews I get, the faster updates will be! I hope you all like this chapter!**

**And yes, another new character comes into the story here! :)**

**The **_italic _**print in Spencer's POV is a voice that you'll understand about in a moment, and the bold print is lyrics to a song that the voice is singing to him. I DO NOT own the song!**

**Now enjoy and onward with the story! Please review! :D :) :D :) :D :)**

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_Spencer's POV_

That dark, female like voice was singing to me again...it was whispering and hissing at me, each lyric more warning and intense than the previous one. Ever since I first turned seventeen, which was almost four months ago, I began to go through hearing this song that seemed to keep replaying on its own in my head. No matter how many times I've attempted forgetting about it, or I tried to replace it with some other thought, the same hushed voice crept its way back to me. Unfortunately, it somehow always dodged the obstacles that I sat up in order to get rid of it, only so it could dig deep into my brain again. I didn't know who or what was making this voice seem to whisper to me, but whatever this hushed tone was...I only knew that it spoke the truth...and the truth hurts.

I decided that I needed some time away from my home back in Oklahoma, so I got my luggage all packed and I drove my souped up vehicle all the way to Kansas. Since I wasn't the type of guy that was used to traveling, I decided to stay in the first hotel that I laid my eyes on. That just so happened to be this place called The County Lodge, which I could've sworn that I heard from someplace else before. However, I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I was an only child who lived in a two-story house with two loving parents. Unfortunately, I also had one heartbreaking uncle, who stole my wisecracking personality and my carefree glimpse towards life to begin with. If you saw how I was back when I was just a child, compared to who I was today at seventeen, you'd find it very difficult to believe that I was the same person. I often allowed my decently long and somewhat swirly, dark brown hair with dark gold like highlights to dangle in front of my pale face, so I could hide my true emotions from everybody else that was around me. My moss-green eyes weren't full of joy or laughter anymore either. Instead, they were overflowing day after day with pain and sorrow, being blurred with steaming hot tears over the littlest things.

_"Spencer...Spencer!...Spencer, listen to me! Get up and look at yourself!_

**Let me make a guess, you feel you've lost your sense of hope? **

**And you feel that no-one's present when you're struggling to cope?**

**You have a futile strategy, you tell yourself you're 'fine.' **

**Well honey, ditch that method! **

**I promise you'll like mine..."**

My uncle ruined me...if you ever heard his gentle laugh, studied the kind twinkles in his eyes, or took in his sweet grin, you would think that I'm insane for saying such a thing. However, that's three of the main things that I only focused on when I was just a little boy. I didn't look closely enough at my uncle and try to crack into his inner self. My uncle always wanted kids...but when my aunt and newborn cousin passed away due to difficulties during birth, he became dark...and cold...he was absolutely evil. His dark blue eyes seemed to drown in bitterness, and he never bothered to crack another smile again...but that was all just around me and only me.

What seemed like everyday in my eyes, my mother would go on and on telling me about how I was a miracle for her and my old man. Honestly, I would fake a realistic smile and pretend to believe her, but I never considered myself as a miracle by the time I reached nine. My mom was told by three different doctors that she couldn't get pregnant, no matter how much she and my father tried. Nevertheless, I eventually came along, safe and sound with love and care showering me daily...I might've not known it then, being just a baby and all, but my uncle wanted revenge for losing his wife and baby girl.

Ever since I first turned six, my life was completely yanked all around and shattered into billions of unfixable pieces by none other than my uncle. God...why did he have to be heartless to the point where he believed that sexually abusing me would make him feel better? I'm still haunted by the memories of when he would knock me down onto his bed and force my clothes off of me, no matter how many times I cried and begged him to stop. After each rape, he would quietly threaten into my ear that if I dared to tell anybody about him, he'd kill my parents right in front of me, and then he would come after me.

I ended up becoming so distant and quiet that all of my friends never bothered to come around or talk to me anymore. My grades in school began to go from straight A's to straight C's too, and I started playing hooky a whole lot in order to avoid all of my classmates and teachers just looking at me and wondering. Was I okay? What was going on with me? Why wasn't I opening myself up to the world? That was the old Spencer...that hyper, joking, gleeful young boy was gone...and I was now new, left alone to be curious about.

"It's not fair..." I whimpered to myself, rubbing my aching shoulders after I forced myself to get out of bed. Tears were already beginning to form in my eyes. "...Why did my life have to come crashing down?...My parents didn't even seem to notice how different I have become ever since my sixth birthday...and so much for graduating and going to college by the looks of my falling grades and unexcused absences. My life is just one gigantic tragedy after the other..." I berried my face in the palms of my pale hands and quietly cried. However, it wasn't long before I heard that hissing voice sing to me again, coming from the inside of my head.

_"Spencer, wipe away your tears! You're doing good! Now it's time to get through another successful day together. Get ready_!

**My love, if you obey MY rules, I'll see that you prevail. **

**Abandon those who 'care' for you, I'll love you like no other. **

**My vulnerable, my prey, my significant other..."**

I took my head out of my hands and sighed at the new orders. This voice was controlling me, but I honestly felt like I needed it to get me where I wanted.

Taking my time, I carefully stood up from my brown bed and rubbed my eyes with my balled up fists. Kicking the remains of my drowsiness aside, I then slumped my aching shoulders and wiped away as many of my salty tears as I could. When I headed over to the body mirror that was beside the closet, all I could do was curiously study my reflection with more hot tears prickling up in the edges of my eyes.

I was too fat...at least that's what my uncle told me. Ever since I turned fifteen, he would curse and raise his middle finger, yelling at me at the top of his lungs with absolute rage about how fat I've gotten since I was that "perfectly thin" child. At first, I attempted to ignore his poisoned mouth, but it got harder for me when I turned sixteen since he started to pinch by skin and go on and on about how flabby I was. I began to grow depressed to a whole new level, but I wasn't going to go for a suicide attempt. That's just what my uncle wanted, I bet. He already took my happiness and positive look on life, so I wasn't going to allow him to take my own life away. Unfortunately, that meant that I technically gave up my self-image to him, and he molded me into this boy that could be mistaken for an elephant. Of course, I wanted to change that once and for all, and by the time I turned seventeen, I changed even more.

I was a bit taller for my age, and before I decided to change, I took the first step and weighed myself. I was 180 pounds, which my old man said was an absolutely healthy body weight for somebody my height, which was why I was excellently built and remarkably thin. However, it seemed like all I could hear were two voices: My uncle's voice, and this sudden female like hushed tone that came along by the time I began to exercise more often, and I pushed my food away as much as I could.

I called this voice Ana...I don't know why I picked that name in the first place, but there was this feeling inside of me that was telling me that it somehow fit "its" attitude perfectly.

_**"**You call this thin? Spencer, you still have fat on you! It looks like we still have 'some' work to do, honey!_

**'Cause you're the darkest star within the galaxy of life,**

**Remove the fork and spoon, and all you're left with is a knife. **

**The knife that juts your shoulder blades and tears between your bones, **

**Creates the sighing of your ribs, your face the sallow tones."**

According to the scale from when I first checked into The County Lodge yesterday night, I was now 120 pounds...but I didn't see any difference. Ana was still telling me that I had fat leftover, too. A gigantic jiggling stomach...huge, chubby thighs...layers dripping off from my face...but why did my old friends keep going on and on about how I was getting too thin? I would touch my ribs, and it felt like they were poking right through my skin. When my shoulders ached and I would try rubbing them, I couldn't help but notice that it was as if my fingers were pinching nothing but bones. I would slide my hands down my sides, only so I could feel how my hips felt as if they were suddenly exposed. I felt bones with my fingertips, but whenever I looked in a mirror, all I could see with my own eyes was complete fat.

I wiped away the rest of my tears and took in a deep breath, savoring it since most of Ana's whispers tell me that oxygen is my everlasting meal. Today was just another day for me...staying on my feet as much as I can and not taking in any food at all. That's all that I kept telling myself as I undressed from my pajamas. If I was thirsty, I could have just plain water. No soda, no milk, no juice...just water. I had to be thinner.

_"You're results will be perfect before you know it...just keep following my rules, my dear..."_

...I should've known that nobody could ever be perfect. My old friends practically begged for me to eat by the first straight month of me skipping lunch at school. Though when I refused, they started growing impatient, bellowing furiously right in front of me about how anorexia nervosa was only going to come my way. I never dared to believe them, however...and as much as I'd hate to admit it, they were right.

Ana was blindly tricking me...but I was too caught up in my own self-image to notice or even care for that matter. Ana technically ruled me, telling me not to eat anything and getting angry at times when I gazed at my reflection to see if I lost any weight. I've had old friends that told me that I couldn't possibly get any skinnier...but Ana told me that they were lying. _'You can never be too thin, Spencer...I'm your friend...I'm not going to lie to you like everybody else_.' Ana quietly spoke in my head whenever my ex-friends or parents said that I was thin enough. "It" basically only talked to me like that whenever I looked into anything that could show me my reflection, or if I bothered to stare at a single piece of food. 120 pounds...I reached my new goal, but Ana told me that another ten pounds wouldn't hurt. _'You're not thin yet, my love! Lose another ten pounds!'_

I stripped my pajamas from my body, getting a quick look at myself in the mirror with me just in my boxers. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before I felt like I was about to burst into tears, but I knew that "it" wouldn't want me to. So, I held back my steaming tears and got redressed in my baggy, dark green hoodie; a pair of my baggy, worn out, dark blue jeans; and my worn out pair of brown tennis shoes. Then I fixed my hair, ignoring some of the strands that were easily coming out when my comb stroked them. After all of that, I pulled up my hoodie, covering my head and sticking my hands in my pockets as I kept my pleading eyes nervously on the floor. I headed out, beginning my way to get downstairs to the feasting hall.

I was planning to take the stairs instead of using the elevator. Like Ana told me yesterday when I checked in and was told my room was on the seventh floor, '_You need all of the exercise that you can get, Spencer. Trust me, the stairs will be better for you.'_

As I turned around the corner, I peeked up for a moment to see this girl leaning against the wall. She had red hair, drenched with hair grease, and she was dressed in a brown leather jacket, matching cowgirl boots that were covered with dirt, a baby-blue crop top, and a worn out pair of white jeans. Golly, girls like her were absolutely lucky to be naturally thin. A lit cigarette was being held in her right hand, between her middle and pointer fingers. Whoever she was, she must've heard my footsteps coming down in her direction, because her eyes instantly fixed on me when I slowly began my way down the next hall.

I quickly gazed back down at the floor, to nervous to look at somebody in the eyes. I listened to my heart heavily beat in my chest, but before I saw it coming, the girl stuck her leg out and caused me to collapse straight to the floor, face first.

"Have a nice trip?" Her voice struck me, all sassy and cold, and it wasn't long before I heard her laughing loudly at me.

Okay...that hurt me in more ways than one. Tears instantly prickled up in my eyes, and I quietly sniffled to myself as I tried my hardest to push myself up from the floor. However, my arms were in too much aching pain for me to succeed. My back felt stiff, and my shoulder blades were still remaining sore. I continued to quietly cry, not bothering to keep trying to push myself up. It hurt me too much, but I finally forced myself to turn my head to look at this redhead girl when I heard her laughter suddenly stop.

She placed her hands on her hips and stared at me with concern. "Hey," She spoke to me in the same tone. "Are you goin' to get up or what? It was just a little trip, you don't need to cry over it."

That "little trip" must've bruised my bones by the way my body seemed to feel all of the sudden. Though, I didn't bother to say anything back to this redhead girl, nor did I try to push myself up from the wooden floor. Nonetheless, it wasn't long before the door that the redhead was resting against to fly open. Another girl with lighter red hair that was pulled back in a greasy ponytail stepped out. Her emerald eyes instantly shot huge when she saw me just laying there, whimpering to myself like a puppy.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" I could tell that she was much more caring than the other redhead.

"...I'm fine," I lied, and I hesitated when the emerald-eyed girl reached one of her hands down to help me up. I knew that I didn't really have a chance though. It was either taking a hold of her offering hand, or stay on the floor and possibly be treated like a useless rug.

"I'm Kitten Andrews," The kinder redhead offered me a small grin as she helped me up from the floor. When she released my hand after I was balanced back on my feet, she motioned me to look at the less kind redhead. "This is my...roommate, Vinny Winston. We're staying here with the rest of our group of friends for winter break."

I forced a small, shy grin. "...I'm Spencer Connors...I'm here for winter break myself."

This Kitten's smile suddenly vanished from her face, which had me instantly growing nervous on the inside. Nevertheless, it didn't take that long for me to realize that her eyes seemed to be gleaming off a mixture of concern and confusion.

"All by yourself?" She curiously questioned.

I bit down on my bottom lip and nibbled on it for a moment, thinking about my friend Ana. I wouldn't say that I was on this winter break all by myself, but I was the only one who could hear Ana's voice. If I dared to speak about that voice inside of my head, I could risk having Kitten turning on me and thinking that I was insane. I could tell by the uncaring look that was plastered on Vinny's face that that ship had already sailed, and she must've hated me.

Finally, I nodded my head. "Yeah...I felt like I needed some time to myself."

The curiousness still remained locked in Kitten's eyes, only seeming to be expanding. "But for this whole winter break? Don't you think that you would get lonely?"

_Get _lonely? I've been feeling all alone ever since the first rape that my uncle committed on me! I've actually never felt so wanted until Ana's voice first swiped across my head, whispering about how the method they had in mind would help me.

Nonetheless, I just shrugged and stuffed my fists back into my pockets instead of saying anything back. The last thing I needed was allowing my past or even my present to slip out on accident.

"Well...if you feel like if you ever want somebody to talk to, you can come to me, all right?" Kitten flashed me another grin, this one smaller though. "Maybe if you'd like, you can meet our gang at some point during this winter break."

Vinny then rolled her eyes and annoyingly groaned loud enough for me to hear. "Kitten, this is supposed to be a vacation! Stop trying to make everything terrible for me! It's already freaking bad 'nough that I have to share a room with you!"

I hid a frown from my face and didn't wait another moment to begin walking away, trying my best to ignore the hurtful words that were just lunged at me, as if I wasn't even standing there. This wasn't the first time that something like this happened to me.

"Thanks for the offer, Kitten..." I spoke as I kept walking like my life depended on it. "...But...I think I like it better just being by myself for awhile." I didn't dare to take a single glimpse back around as I continued my now fast walk down the hall, until I finally made it back around the other corner. I pushed the gray doors open when I came close enough, and I began my way down the stairs with Ana's voice sounding satisfied.

_Dally's POV_

"Ow! Ow! Johnny, ouch! You're hurting me! _Ouch_!" Cassidy was wiggling all around like some little child instead of a preteen. She struggled with fixing her own hair whenever she wanted to put it up in some ponytail or something, so Johnny would help by doing it for her. Unfortunately, that meant that he had to run out all of the knots and tangles as gently as possible, but also hard enough to get them to get out.

"Cassidy, hold still!" Johnny ordered, wrapping one of his arms around her waist to keep her on his lap. "Your hair is as hard enough to comb with all of these tangles. Wiggling around like a worm on a hook ain't goin' to help with that. Just sit still, all right? You know me, your hair is safe."

I couldn't help myself to quietly snicker my teasing laughter, which had Cassidy's face beating red as she embarrassedly crossed her arms over her stomach. After getting beat up badly by Socs, earning him a scar on his face, murdering a Soc, running away with another member from our gang, and saving kids from a burning fire which led him to the hospital, Johnny _still _didn't get mad or irritated at anything serious. Instead, he got annoyed whenever his little sister wiggled around when he was trying to comb out all of the tangles in her hair.

I took in a drag of my recently lit cigarette and held it in for a few seconds. I then puffed it out into a perfect smoke ring, flashing a smirk at the giggling Jocelyn. She was already dressed, thanks to me, and she was waiting to get a move on as she sat there in the wooden crib. Her big brown eyes were looking at me, and she was drooling all over one of her toy rings. I might've hated little kids, but I couldn't help myself to have a certain spot for Jocelyn and Cassidy inside of me.

Unfortunately, my smirk swiped right away from my face when I heard two female voices furiously bickering back and forth from the hallway. I rolled my eyes, taking another drag of my cigarette as I continued to listen to the vicious tones. I knew those voices by heart.

Johnny's puppy eyes were huge, but he wouldn't look away from Cassidy's hair.

Cassidy turned her head, regretting it instantly when Johnny just so happened to hit another knot. She clenched her teeth tightly and her eyes clamped shut. Without waiting, she then slammed her paling fists down onto her lap and let out another, "Ouch!"

Johnny sighed, but didn't bother to say anything about Cassidy's hair. Instead, he asked: "What in the world could Kitten and Vinny be arguing about this early in the morning?"

"I don't have a freaking clue, but I'm going to get them to shut their mouths before any complaints get filed or anything." I took in a deep, quiet breath and blew out my almost white bangs from my face.

Even Johnnycake knew those two female voices by heart, and Johnny was the kind of person who was afraid to dare himself to get to know others. Nonetheless, I'm glad that I found him sleeping in the lot that one dark and rainy night when we were just little kids. I ended up taking him to the Curtis' house, where he met the rest of the gang, and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis bandaged up his cuts that he got from "tripping" all over. When you grow up in such a tight neighborhood like ours back in Tulsa, you get to know each other real well. We were each just as close as siblings, but I already have it hard enough with being half-related to Vinny.

I continued to hold my cigarette inbetween my right hand's middle and pointer fingers as I grasped a hold of the door's doorknob. Johnny didn't bother to stop me from what I had in mind of doing, so I flew the door open and stomped out into the hallway. As I closed the door behind me, my eyes met just what I suspected to find. Kitten and Vinny were all up in each others beating red faces, teeth viciously clenched and eyes sharply narrowed.

I placed my free arm across my chest and irritatingly rolled my eyes.

"Hey! Moron number one! Moron number two! Can't you shut up?" I snapped over yet another one of their noisy, ridiculous argument about God knows what. Instantly, Vinny and Kitten stopped their bickering, but only so they could flash their death mock glares in my direction, as if they were ordering me to stay out of their business.

"God, what's with you Winston's and your morning cancer stick?" Kitten crossed her arms over her stomach.

In return, I offered her a tiny smirk as I took in another deep breath of my cigarette. I then shrugged, puffing out another perfect smoke ring.

Kitten pulled her lips back again, revealing her slimly grinding teeth again. "You Winston's must carry enough tar in your lungs to repave all of the parking lots in New York! How are you one of my friends again, Dallas?"

My small smirk instantly vanished, and my eyes flooded up with annoyance all over again. "Calm yourself, tiger. It's not like you never smoked before. But don't you think that I came out here to talk 'bout cancer sticks. Why in the hell are you two arguing? We seriously just freakin' woke up!"

"Dally," hissed Kitten, as she pointed one of her thumbs over at Vinny. "You need to teach your kid sister how to stop actin' like a bitch!"

My eyes narrowed, swarming with new confusion as I thought about Kitten's words.

"Look, Kitty," I heavily sighed, obviously growing more irritated. "If you're telling me that Vinny's a bitch, I already know that! But I haven't changed her since the first day she became a bitch, so what makes you think I'll be able to change her now?"

"I'm right here!" Vinny practically exclaimed at the top of her lungs. Kitten and I instantly locked our eyes back on her.

"Vin, what in the hell did you do this time?" I took another drag of my cigarette to help me from exploding from my own forming rage.

Vinny followed my example and took in a deep breath of her own cancer stick. "Nothing," She then simply shrugged, attempting to blow a smoke ring. "I just tripped some guy...it's not like I committed a serious crime like you practically do all the time, Dal."

My face seemed to instantly flash to a deep shade of red at that crack Vinny pulled at the end of her speaking. I warningly pointed a finger at her and said: "You better watch it, you freaking bitch! I'm already sick and tired 'bout how I have to put up I share some of the same blood as you!"

Vinny's satisfied smirk instantly vanished from her face, and she scowled at me again. Instead of saying another word though, she just turned away and stomped off down the hall. When she made it to the elevator, she still didn't bother to gaze back at me or Kitten. She just pushed a button and waited for the doors to reclose. After that, she wasn't in mine or Kitten's sight anymore.

"Dally..." Kitten motioned in the direction where Vinny just left, but she stopped when I shook my head at her.

My voice was hard and giving away my anger. "Don't bother, Kitten. Just save your breath, all right? Vinny is a badass New Yorker that'll never take her no-good ways out of her blood. Do you honestly think that she would listen to me?"

Kitten's eyes narrowed furiously, and she clenched her hands into tight fists at her sides. "Dal, even Johnny sets Cassidy straight when she gets mouthy! Some brother you are to Vinny! You should know that the only reason she's like this is because she wants to be like you!"

"Oh, so you think that I don't know that?" I challenged through now clenched teeth. "Well, you're wrong! If you're like me, nothin' can hurt you! You get a tough rep, and nobody will try to tango with you!"

Kitten closed her eyes and shook her head a few times. When she reopened her eyes, she rolled them at me.

"Well, congratulations, Dally. You got your dream rep, but you're losing your own kid sister." Kitten flatly stated, but her face gave it away that she was being serious. "I know that you're thinking that you don't give a piece of crap about Vinny, but you just better watch it, Dally. You never know what could possibly happen to her, and if something ever _does _happen to her, I know that you'll never forgive yourself."

I just stared at Kitten, my eyes narrowed all over again as I bit down on my tongue a little. Kitten began to back up, still giving me her serious facial expression for a few more seconds before she finally decided to turn herself around and head off to the elevator.

When I finally decided to walk back into mine, Cassidy, Jocelyn, and Johnny's room, I didn't realize that somebody was watching from the opposite end of the hallway.

"What happened out there, Dally? I heard a lot of yelling," Johnny nervously said to me, now holding Jocelyn in his arms. Cassidy was sitting on her and Johnny's bed, cross-legged with her brunette hair now pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes were just like Johnny's, an innocent little puppy's.

I took in another deep drag of my cigarette, hesitating. Kitten's words wouldn't leave my mind, no matter how much I wanted to kick them out of there.

"...This vacation is certainly off to a great start," I sarcastically huffed, rolling my eyes.

Confusedly, Johnny battered his eyes a few times. "What's wrong, Dally?"

I shook my head at him, considering that I didn't believe what anything was wrong with me. At the time that is.

"Nothings wrong," I simply shrugged. "Let's just get downstairs to the feasting hall and fetch some breakfast."

Johnny bit down on his bottom lip, nibbling on it for a couple of seconds before he finally nodded at me.

"Can you carry one of Jocelyn's bottles for me, Dal? This hotel is bound to have some milk for her to drink."

I nodded, already heading over to the black garbage bag that had Jocelyn's supplies in it. "Sure, Johnnycake."

"Thanks," Johnny offered me a small grin, right before he glanced over at Cassidy. "Come on, Cass."

After I fetched one of Jocelyn's baby bottles, I coolly strolled after Johnny, Cassidy, and Jocelyn out of our room, closing the door behind us. Though on the way out, I could've sworn that I heard some kind of shuffle like noise coming from underneath one of the beds. Nonetheless, I just shrugged it off, thinking that it was nothing.

_Steve's POV_

God, sharing a room with Two-Bit was even more horrible than I thought that it would be. First, he kept twisting and turning underneath his double bed's covers, whining to me about how he couldn't get comfortable. Second, Two-Bit claimed some time around midnight that if we switched beds, he would be able to stop wiggling all around and get comfy, even though both beds were exactly the same. I ended up doing it just to shut him up, no matter how much I just wanted to curse him out. Lastly, Two-Bit snored like a tractor at one moment, and then talked in his sleep the next. Man, why couldn't Brawn No Brain let me share a room with Soda? It isn't my fault that Ponyboy's nightmares aren't going away! That shouldn't get in the way of mine and Sodapop's friendship!

Waking up to Mr. Roberts' recorded wakeup call definitely didn't help my rough night at catching any sleep. My eyes were _killing_ me, and waking up with how well rested and joyful Two-Bit seemed just made me angry. Actually, the only thing that was keeping me from killing Two-Bit was that there were witnesses in this hotel, and I didn't want to get arrested.

To help wake myself up, I decided to take a quick shower. The warm water was definitely helping me, just like I suspected it would. Just as I squirted some shampoo in the center of my other hand's palm, I heard the bathroom door squeak open.

"Hey roomie!" Two-Bit's voice rang from the crack. Thank God that the glass doors of the shower were that blurry made kind, so nobody could see you and your bareness, but you could still see everything else from your side.

"Two-Bit!" I bellowed. My face was beating red already, both from rage and embarrassment. I ended up forgetting about the shampoo that I squeezed into my hand, and I clenched it into a tight fist, causing the decent amount of shampoo to go all over my wet arm.

I could hear Two-Bit's obnoxious laughter suddenly booming out. That had me rolling my eyes.

"You _never _give anybody privacy, do you?" I irritatingly hissed through slightly clenched teeth.

Again, Two-Bit laughed loudly. "There's no need to get your swirls in a knot, roomie. I'm just tellin' you that I'm going to head downstairs to catch up with the others in the feasting hall!"

"Stop calling me 'roomie' unless you want to lose your tongue, Mathews!" I commanded, more annoyance slipping into my voice by the minute. "And fine! Tell Soda that I'll be down in about ten minutes!"

Two-Bit flashed the shower that cheesy, huge smile of his. Laughing once more, he said: "You got it, _roommate_!"

God, I was seriously going to mangle him when we got back to Tulsa. However, I didn't get a chance to string any words together and threaten Two-Bit with them. He had already reclosed the bathroom door, and I could hear the main door of our room open up, shortly closing again after a few seconds.

I cursed to myself, going on with every cuss word that I could think of as I squirted some more shampoo out. I scrubbed my hair, getting the shampoo all over each strand and washing it out with the warm water after letting it settle for about a minute. After that, I picked up a bar of soap, but just as I began to rub it against my skin, I could've sworn that I heard the main door of mine and Two-Bit's room slowly squeak open.

"Hey, Two-Bit!" I called out, but I couldn't see anything since I was busy washing my face. "Is that you out there? Did you forget something?"

Strangely, there was no response.

I went on cleaning my face with the bar of soap. "Two-Bit, I know that's you! You're not foolin' me, so you might as well say something back!"

Still, there wasn't any word coming back to me.

I opened my mouth to call out again, but before I could get a word out, I picked up the sound of the bathroom door squeaking open. Without any hesitation, I quickly gazed over my shoulder, opening my eyes back up to notice that the bathroom door was cracked open again, but nobody was standing there.

Confusedly, I narrowed my eyes a bit. "Two-Bit? What are you tryin' to pull this time?"

Instead of me getting a verbal answer from that Mickey Mouse loving freak like I suspected, I heard the sound of the TV being turned on.

Not waiting for another second to slip by, I dropped the bar of soap and quickly turned the warm water off. After that, I slid open the shower door and grabbed two towels, quickly wrapping one around my waist, and I used the other to start drying off my upper body.

"Two-Bit!" I called out. "If you're trying to scare me, you're failing miserably!"

Nonetheless, I still didn't get any response. That was really strange, because if Two-Bit was attempting to pull one of his pranks, you would be able to hear him at least trying to hold his noisy laughter back. This time, I didn't hear anything, except the sound of the TV.

I annoyingly rolled my eyes, expecting to open the door to see Two-Bit pounce out and holler "Boo!" or something like that. But when I pushed the door open and examined the room, I didn't see anybody.

Confusedly, I cocked an eyebrow, and I began to slowly turn my head from left to right. Though, no matter how many times I studied the room, my eyes wouldn't meet anyone. I was all alone.

I touched my chin with my index finger, thinking hard about how this could've happened if I was all alone. Then it hit me...Two-Bit must've snuck back in and did all of this, quickly leaving the room again before I came out of the bathroom, all in order to attempt scaring me.

"God, will that Mickey Mouse freak _ever _grow up?" I groaned, face-palming myself and shaking my head a few times. I then went on cursing a bit to myself, but I stopped when I paid attention to what was on the TV.

The channel that was turned on was the news, and there was a woman standing in front of someplace that I could've sworn I saw before. She was dressed in a long, brown, fur-trimmed winter jacket with black mittens, and her long blonde hair was peeking out from her pulled up hoodie. I could tell by the looks of her bright red face and squinting, pale blue eyes that it must've been absolutely freezing out there. Since I saw the words "Breaking News" on the screen, I decided to leave the TV on as I began to get dressed.

"Good morning, Kansas! I am your reporter, Linda Frost, and I am reporting from Fair Fill-Ups where just a few hours ago, sixteen-year-old Belinda Foster was found dead by her mother, Mrs. Monica Foster." The female reporter spoke into her microphone.

I quickly yanked my shirt on like my life depended on it, and my huge eyes glued onto the screen all over again. Fair Fill-Ups?...That was the last gas station where we decided to stop on the way here to The County Lodge! By the looks of the background, I could see something rusty-colored further back in the white snow, and the windows of Fair Fill-Ups were now smashed.

I listened carefully, not taking my eyes off from the TV as I pulled on a pair of my jeans.

"The power cords and security lines seemed to be cut, and by the looks of the amount of blood was at the scene and how Belinda's body was found behind the front counter, the doctors are reporting that her skull was smashed in with a weapon that was something like a hockey stick, or a baseball bat." Linda Frost closed her eyes and sighed. "I wish that I could say that this is shocking, but those escaped mental patients on the lose, I can't say that anything is difficult to believe right now."

Escaped mental patients? I could've sworn that I felt my jaw drop all the way down to the floor. No...this couldn't be true...this just _had _to be some cruel, twisted joke!

"Only a year ago, Mr. Jonas Foster; Belinda's father and Monica's husband, was found all slit up by what the doctors suspected was a chainsaw. Mrs. Foster is heartbroken, for now her husband isn't only dead, but her baby girl was taken from her just last night. Now all she can hope and pray for is for her son, James Foster, to get back home from college as soon as possible, before these escaped mental patients attempt anymore of their tricks."

I could've sworn that I was paling more and more with every word that Linda Frost was reporting.

"Remember, ladies and gentlemen, if you have any idea where these psychopaths are, call the cops right away and give them as much information as you can. And whatever you do, do _not _risk your life in some self-defense game with any of them. Seventeen-year-old Stephanie Miller, fourteen-year-old Michael Bonds, twenty-year-old Ella Kyles, and fifteen-year-old Dylan Oliver were recently found dead just a couple of weeks ago, each from a different type of injury and weapon. As for ten-year-old Piper Morgan, sixth-month-old Wendy Smiths, and twelve-year-old Ricky Loomis, they're still missing from what we suspect is still the escaped mental patients continuing revenge. The police are still doing everything that they can to find these poor children so they can return safe and sound to their families."

My heart must've taken a trip around the entire globe and back.

"Please stay as safe as possible, and don't forget to call the cops even if you have the slightest clue where just one of the escaped mental patients. I'm Linda Frost reporting from Fair Fill-Ups...back to you, Ryan."

I didn't hesitate after Linda disappeared off the screen to quickly grab the remote and turn the TV off. Quietly, I breathed, taking in everything that I had just heard with my own ears. The gang and I were on a vacation in a place where there were escaped mental patients on the lose! And not only that, but five people were already killed, and three other people were still missing! But what could I do about it? I couldn't tell the gang...I knew that most of them would say that I was probably just messing around anyway. Besides, we were one of the roughest gangs in all of Tulsa, and we've survived everything our hometown has thrown at us since day one. If those escaped mental patients tried coming near any of us, we would be ready.

At that thought, I formed a smirk and chuckled as I finished getting dressed. No escaped psychopaths would bother coming to The County Lodge, right? I mean, not many people were even staying here, so why bother?

I wasn't going to bother telling the gang...I didn't want to worry or scare any of them, especially after we drove all this way and just settled in the night before. None of us could ever go through something _that _massive, right? I mean, sure...we've been through murderous rumbles and all of that, but we wouldn't ever have to go through what seemed like an actual horror film. Just because the news reporter thinks that this Belinda and all of those other people were killed and kidnapped by some escaped psychos didn't mean that they actually were.

I finished drying off my hair, no longer smirking since Two-Bit came wandering back into my head. I had to talk to him about this trick that he pulled on me. I left mine and Two-Bit's room, closing the door behind me and no longer thinking about the news report since I didn't think there was anything to actually be worried over. Unfortunately, I didn't pay any mind to notice that a pair of evil eyes were spying on me, hiding in the closet.

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD **

**The more reviews I get, the faster I'll be updating! ;) ;)**

**The song from Spencer's POV is called "The Voice of Anorexia." **

**_BY THE WAY_: If you're struggling with your self-image, please don't allow Ana (anorexia) or Mia (bulimia) to take you over! You're beautiful on the inside and out! Trust me, I know how difficult it is to accept yourself for who you are, but everybody has something that they don't like about themselves. If you're going through an eating disorder, or you feel like you're coming in contact with one, please get help! It's not worth it! Stay healthy! If you need help, please talk to somebody that you can trust! Don't let anorexia and/or bulimia take your life away. You're perfect the way that you are. Remember that, please. :)**

**Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks, everyone! :D :D :D :D :) :) :) :)**


	7. What's Going On?

**A/N: Who wants a new chapter? Well, here it is! Also, I want to give a shout out to radgreasers, SwitchbladesinMyHeart, nadine1231966, BIG FAN, and PinkAmy for reviewing my previous chapter! It means a lot! :D :D**

**Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster my updates will be! ;) ;)**

**Please review! :)**

**Now, onward with the suspense and drama! Enjoy! :D :D :) :)**

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_Cassidy's POV_

No matter how much I tried letting it go, I was still fed up about last night. I couldn't stop quietly crying to myself for what felt like hours, until I felt Johnny's arms securely wrap around me and hold me close to him. How could my own brother and one of my best friends not believe me? Do they think that I was kidding around with them? Or worse, _lying_? I would never lie about anything _this _serious! I know exactly what I saw, and what I saw with my own eyes was that same exact shadowy figure from the road! Their eyes still haunted me...beating red, probably eyes given to him or her from the devil. Glowing with dread, narrowed with rage...all for what I could tell was a warning. But why was this shadowy figure stalking the gang and I? What did we do to deserve her or him on our tails, especially on our first ever vacation together? We were supposed to be _escaping _all of the fear and drama, but it's as if this dark figure knew to come and target us. What did they want with me and the rest of the gang?

The feasting hall looked as if it belonged to royalty. It was a gigantic room, crystal like lights dangling from the ceiling with other fancy paintings hanging from the four walls that were painted to look like a log cabin's wooden walls. As for the floor, it was different shades of silver stone, and all of the tables were rectangular with patted chairs surrounding each side.

"Oh please, Jocelyn, _not _now..." Johnny sighed as he gently pressed our baby sister's head down to rest on his shoulder. She was whimpering like a little puppy that was stuck on a leash, and she was slapping her little hands up and down on Johnny's jean jacket. Her big brown eyes were also now clamped shut, and tears were beginning to shed down her adorable tan face. Ever since Johnnycake, Dallas, and I made it into the feasting hall, Jocelyn seemed to change out of the blue.

I pouted a little, and I began to stroke Jocelyn's jet-black, silky, bouncy curls with my fingertips in order to help Johnnycake calm her down. Usually in the morning, Jocelyn through small fussy fits, mainly over the fact that when she wakes up, she's eager for her bottle. The only other times she spurts out into a fussy fit is when she needs a diaper change, or she's been waken up.

"Looks like someone is hungry," Dally pointed out, snickering some as he wagged one of his pointer fingers playfully in the seven-month-old's bright red face.

Johnny slimly nodded and patted Jocelyn's back. "Yeah, she wants her bottle all right."

When the word 'hungry' came out of Dally's mouth in the first place, Jocelyn's beautiful eyes popped back open like her little life depended on it. Cutely, she battered them as they continued to pool up with a countless amount of salty tears, and her little puppy whimpers began to fade into small sniffles. It wasn't long before she noticed Dally's finger, and she kept watching it playfully wiggle in her face.

"You hungry there, baby Cade?" asked Dally with a joking tone.

Jocelyn's little mouth dropped open, and when she got the chance, she locked her small lips around Dally's finger. Adorably, she closed her eyes again and then began to suck, relaxing her head back down on Johnny's shoulder.

"...I'm guessing that that's a yes." I could tell that Dally was trying his hardest not to crack any tiny smirk, but he was failing miserably. He wanted to make sure that nobody else in the gang noticed in seeming soft, considering that the rest of the gang was already sitting at one huge table together, snaking down their breakfast. As for the bubbly Utopia, the owner Mr. Roberts, the sensitive Faith, and the somewhat awkward Jill, they were sitting at a different table together. Strangely, the vampire looking Ashton wasn't anywhere in sight, and there was this new guy whom I haven't met sitting all by himself, covering his head with his green hoodie and poking at his plate on food instead of eating any of it.

I playfully rolled my eyes at Dally's softness, despite me trying not to, and Johnny quietly chuckled at the twinkle of kindness that sparked up in Dally's eyes. Since Dallas Christopher Winston was the roughest and most illegal male greaser in all of Tulsa, he wanted to make sure that he retained his badass rep at any cost.

Suddenly, Dally's eyes drowned in bitterness as he narrowed them, and he gazed back and forth from me to Johnnycake with a new stern look. "You two do realize that if you dare tell anyone about this, I can kick your butts into the next generation, right?"

Johnny's dark eyes grew big a little, and he seemed to pale, but all I did was roll my eyes and hide a smirk from my face. Dally would never lay a hurtful finger on either me, Jocelyn, or Johnny, whether he got angry or annoyed with us or not.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Dal." I choked back my snickers and crossed my arms over the center of my stomach after hearing it grumble. Golly, I was eager for breakfast...and the mixed scents of crispy bacon, fluffy pancakes, French toast, sugary syrup, and perfectly good eggs weren't helping my appetite. I bet Darry was glad to be able to sit back and relax instead of having to deal with cooking himself, or watching over Soda's shoulder when he was taking the oven for a spin. Though I must admit, it'll feel pretty strange to not have any chocolate cake for breakfast this winter break, or any meals that involved Sodapop's food-coloring.

"Hey, Dally...if it's not too much trouble, would you mind goin' back upstairs to our room to fetch Jocelyn's pacifier?" Johnny began to sooth Jocelyn again by quietly hushing her and bouncing her a little in his arms. After Dally slipped his finger out of her mouth, she began to grow fussy all over again.

Dally simply shrugged and handed over Jocelyn's baby bottle before he headed off, somewhat calling out as he walked out of the feasting hall, "Sure, Johnnycake."

All because we were the Cade's...if we were from the Randle family tree, or the Mathews', or even the Curtis' family, Dally would've instantly denied Johnny's question or attempted objecting to find a way out of it. But we were the Cade's...the three young ones that were neglected at one moment by our alcoholic parents, and then beat by them the next. Dally loved us more than anything, but he even knew that he wouldn't be able to live without anybody from the gang.

When Jocelyn began to whimper again, Johnny decided to gently rock her back and forth. At least that was helping a little bit.

"Well, Cass, you better go fetch a plate and some breakfast. I need to go get Jocelyn's bottle ready." Johnny instructed me, but I couldn't obey him this time. I knew how much of a handle Jocelyn could be; the whole gang knew. The last thing any of us, especially Johnny, needed on our first ever vacation together was him accidentally spilling Jocelyn's milk or overheating it because he was wrapped up in trying to keep her settled.

I gently took a hold of Johnny's jean jacket when he attempted to walk away. "I'll get Jocelyn's bottle ready."

"Are you sure? Do you even know how?" questioned Johnny.

I tilted my head at him and narrowed my eyes some, exposing my slimly forming annoyance. "What do you think?"

Johnny raised his eyebrows at me and didn't say anything, and I knew what that look meant. I wiped my sassy look off from my face and sighed, shaking my head.

"Don't talk to me like that, please." Johnny calmly said, still giving me that look of his.

"I'm sorry." I sighed, and I meant it. I just couldn't forget about how he and Dally didn't believe me about the dark figure.

Johnny nodded his head; offering me a proud, little grin as he continued to bounce Jocelyn in his arms.

"It's all right, Cass," He handed over the pink baby bottle. "You know what to do. Just fill it with milk and place it in a small bowl of hot water."

I understandingly nodded as I took the bottle from him, but before I walked off to the kitchen, I decided to plant a family kiss on Johnny's cheek. I knew that he honestly cared about me, and we loved each other to death, but it just drove me insane about what happened last night. Though I honestly knew that I could never live without my Johnnycake or Jocelyn.

I could've sworn that I saw Johnny flashing me another small smile as I headed off to the kitchen. Atleast that had a little grin hinting its way across my face, and I stared down at the baby bottle that my fingertips couldn't stop fiddling around with. Before Johnny and I knew it, Jocelyn wouldn't need our help to bathe, feed, or change, so even though taking care of a baby wasn't a walk in the park, we both knew that it was going to be worth it.

When I entered the kitchen, I expected that I was just going to have to do what I used to do back at the Curtis' house. Warm my kid sister's milk up and feed her with Johnny, but this morning ended up taking a turn after I realized that I wasn't in the kitchen alone. I took no hesitation to freeze in my tracks, and that small smile that twitched up on mu lips was as if it wasn't there to begin with.

"Well, well, well...looks like my mornin' is just gettin' better and better...care for some breakfast, chocolate eyes?" It was Ashton, and he was smirking so wide that it was as if his pale face would split right in two. This look of what I felt was deviousness was sparking up in his narrowed eyes, which wouldn't stop spying at me, as if I was the final popular item to buy in the store.

Hearing the sound of Ashton's voice instantly shot a cold chill through my spine, causing goosebumps to begin forming all up my arms. Nonetheless, I just continued to stand where I was like a bump on a log, too uneasy all of the sudden to take another step.

"...What are you doin' in here?" I asked after I was able to find my voice.

Ashton chuckled, leaning back against one of the granite counters. "What do you think? Mr. Roberts may be the owner of this hotel, but he can't do _everything_ here by himself, and since all of his employees skipped out, I decided to take over the cooking."

Confusedly, I raised my eyebrows. Did he just say...all of The County Lodge's employees skipped out?...Meaning that they quit or just ran out for some reason?...Why would they leave, especially around winter break when they could get paid more?

Ashton's voice shattered my thoughts. "Would you like a beer?"

My eyes shot bigger at the mention of beer. I wasn't used to hearing any word that related to alcohol come out of anybody's mouth, except Two-Bit and Dally's. My discomfort was only expanding more by every few passing seconds.

Quickly, I shook my head. "N-No...I'll just take some milk."

Ashton raised his eyebrow, his smirk still widely spread across his face. "Are you sure? Beer is pretty damn delicious whence you get the hang of it. Ah, there's nothin' better than a nice cold beer in the morning, don't you think so?"

"I wouldn't know. I never drank alcohol before, and I'm not goin' to start now." I shook my head again, my voice growing more stern. Unfortunately, my uncomfortable feelings were only hardening, becoming more and more strong right in my chest and in the pit of my stomach.

Finally, Ashton just shrugged, and he popped off the cap of the glass bottle of beer that he recently swiped from the fridge. I felt stiff, breathing quietly to myself and taking my time to blink every couple seconds as I witnessed Ashton take down a huge slurp of his morning beer. I never saw anyone, minus Two-Bit, drink like that in the morning...but atleast I actually felt comfortable around him and Two-Bit wouldn't ever dare to pressure anybody into anything. He might've been a wisecracker, but he didn't find pressuring others funny at all.

"Ah..." Ashton sighed after he swallowed what was in his mouth. He then wiped his lips off with his black jean jacket's sleeve, and when he reopened his eyes, another huge smirk like smile popped across his face. "...What's your name, young one?"

I nervously bit down on my bottom lip a little. "...Cassidy...why are you asking?"

Ashton "coolly" pushed himself up onto one of the granite counters and sat there. "What's your full name, Cassidy?"

"...Cassidy Ellen Cade..." I quietly took down a gulp and started to softly tap my fingernails against Jocelyn's baby bottle. "Now _w__hy _are you asking?"

Still smirking, Ashton gently took a small nibble at his bottom lip, and he simply shrugged his shoulders. I was going to open my mouth and tell him that that wasn't an answer, but before I could get a word out, I caught him staring me down. His bluish/grayish/greenish mixed eyes were studying me, and his smirk became so gigantic that it seemed as if all of his teeth were now exposed. From the bottom of my feet, all the way to the top of my head...Ashton kept examining me to the point where I felt like my heart was about to burst from racing so much.

I slowly moved my arms, crossing them across my breasts. "Look...I just came in here to help my brother out. I need to fix up our baby sister's bottle, so can I please get some milk and be on my way back out?" My shakiness was beginning to slip a little.

Ashton's eyes met mine again, and he hopped off from the counter. "Why didn't you just say so, _Cassidy_?" He touched his chin. "Lovely name, by the way...very beautiful."

"...Thanks..." I quietly began to squeak my words out the best that I could. I was only twelve, a little tiny bit taller for my age, and this Ashton looked seventeen.

Hesitantly, I began to take my time to slowly approach the vampire looking boy after he had gotten the milk carton out of the fridge. He was offering it out in my direction, meaning that if I wanted it, I was going to have to get it from him. Quietly, I gulped again, but when I made it close enough to get the milk carton, I quickly latched my free hand around it. However, when I attempted tugging the milk away from Ashton, he wouldn't let any part of it slip from his fingers.

"Uh...you can let go now..." I tried pulling the carton closer to me again. However, Ashton decided to pull it back, and he ended up dragging me along with it since he was much taller and stronger than me.

"Tell me..." Ashton snickered, looking straight into my eyes. "How old are you?"

"I'm a preteen, okay? Now can you give me the milk, please?" My stubbornness was beginning to get the best of me again, but at that time, I didn't give a piece of crap. Ashton was irritating me like hell, and I only officially met him about five minutes ago.

Finally, Ashton nodded and released the milk carton, and I was able to start whipping up Jocelyn's bottle. New silence met the kitchen, and my nervousness was starting to expose all over again. I didn't need to look at Ashton to know that he was still looking at me, smirking widely like a devious moron.

Suddenly, Ashton's voice broke the stillness, just as I twisted the cap back on Jocelyn's baby bottle that was now full of milk.

"Preteen Cassidy, huh?" He was chuckling, and I just nodded. "...Do you have a boyfriend, Cassidy?"

I instantly shook my head and started some decently hot water in the sink so it could fill up a small bowl.

"My brother won't let me date yet...and it's not like I want to now anyway."

Within a couple of seconds, Ashton was by my side, lowering his head some so he could be whispering into my ear.

Another chill went shooting up my spine, and I stiffened as I felt Ashton's fingernails gently begin to trace around on my back.

"You're very pretty, Cassidy..." Ashton spoke into my ear, his voice hushed.

I didn't wait to nudge him away, now feeling _too _uncomfortable, and I stopped the decently hot water from running any longer. After that, I held Jocelyn's baby bottle by the nipple and placed it into the small bowl that was now full of the sink water. All I could do then was wait for the water to do its job and warm up the milk enough, while I attempted tuning Ashton out on the side.

"...Aren't you going to thank me for givin' you a compliment like that?" questioned Ashton, his eyebrow now cocked. Before I could speak up right away, I then felt his fingers beginning to attempt dancing through my ponytail.

I impatiently shook my head twice in order to get Ashton's hand away from me. Luckily, it worked. I knew what he was trying to do...but I didn't think that I would ever go through something like this, especially with a seventeen-year-old. Ashton was attempting to flirt with me.

I nervously bit down on my bottom lip and tapped my fingers against the granite counter, trying my best to hold back my fear. I might've been able to handle going through a rumble almost every week and an abusive home life, but I've actually never been flirted with before. Boys might've smiled at me and whatnot, but atleast they were my age...and what Ashton was doing didn't come close.

Ashton tilted his head like a confused puppy. "...Aren't you hot in here, Cassidy?"

I kept my mouth shut and ignored him as much as I could. However, it wasn't long before I felt Ashton's freezing cold hands on my shoulders. The quiet breath that I took in was sharp and heavy, seeming to get caught in my throat. My eyes felt as if they were about to bulge out of my head, and goosebumps began to dance all over my arms, legs, and even my neck.

"How about..." Ashton's smirking lips suddenly pressed against my neck. "We take this heat on up to my room?"

My mouth dropped open, forming a giant 'O' shape. Startled tears prickled up in the edges of my eyes, and my breaths began to get deeper and more shaky. I honestly thought that this couldn't get any worse, but I was proven wrong when Ashton began to whisper many dirty comments and flirtatious remarks into my ears. He went on whispering...his tone darkly hushed and chuckles haunting. My gorgeous eyes...my silky hair...but what got me the most was when he commented about how my body was absolutely sexy body. He was actually trying to seduce me.

I've been through enough private talks with Johnny and Dally to know when somebody was trying to pressure me into any kind of sexual activity. Johnny told me that he knew how responsible I was, so I knew the difference between right and wrong. It's true, I'm a whole lot more mature for my age. So, if there was any time in any place where someone attempted to touch me or say anything sexual, Johnny said that he wanted me to scream at the top of my lungs so I could get somebody else's attention. However, I knew that I just couldn't do that with the time that I was in. Ashton was a whole lot stronger than me, and God knows what he would do if I dared to even squeak out the world 'help.' Who knows, there might be a possibility that that he would pull a knife on me since we were in the kitchen. I didn't even know if he had any kind of weapon of his own on him. Besides, the gang and I were on our first ever vacation together...I didn't want to ruin it. So, I knew that there was only one option left for me to choose from...take Dally's lesson on self-defense to my advantage.

Don't hold back...give it everything I got. That's what Dally told me was the most important thing when it came to defending yourself. Mercy is for the weak...and Ashton was certainly _not _weak by the way he acts towards me and God knows how many other girls.

Without allowing another moment to slip through my fingers, I forced Ashton away from me with a single rough push, quickly wiping my neck of his saliva while I was at it. Before he got the chance to say anything, I flew myself around to see him. My face was beginning to burn up, and my eyes sharply narrowed as my lips pulled back to reveal my grinding teeth. Ashton's mixed colored eyes shot huge as he watched me fly one of my now tightly clenched fists back, and when I swung it back forward, I slammed him clear across the face. I must've punched him harder than I thought, because he fell straight to the floor with a loud _thud_. Dally would certainly be proud of me.

"You go right to hell you freakin' son-of-a-bitch!" I furiously bellowed, beginning to feel as if steam was coming out of my ears. I knew that Johnny would set me down and give me one heck of an angry lecture if he dared to hear a single cuss word fly out of my mouth. It was difficult to believe, but Johnny honestly was very scary to be around if you lit his fuse. It's just rare to happen, but I just couldn't help the cursing from flying out of my lips when dealing with some pervert like this Ashton Fisher guy!

Ashton touched his cheek from where it was starting to turn red. It must've stung because after his fingers barely poked it, a scowl swept across his face.

"That's funny, for a little twelve-year-old girl you got a freakin' big mouth. A lot of people I know get hurt thanks to their big mouths." Ashton's growled through his now clenched teeth. As he attempted to pick himself up from the floor, I took the opportunity to fetch Jocelyn's baby bottle by the nipple, along with a rag to rap around it just in case I allowed it to get too warm. After that, Ashton was already back up on his feet, looking as if he was about to leap at me and take me down to the floor with him. Thinking fast like Kitten, Vinny, or Dally would do in a time like that, I locked my eyes back onto the bowl of decently hot water. I breathed rapidly, feeling the goosebumps grow colder all over my skin, and with my free hand, I snatched up the bowl and threw it at Ashton. Much to my luck, I hit him straight in the face without aiming, and the decently hot water stained his shirt and pants.

"Who in the hell do you think you are you-" Ashton went on with every curse word that you could ever imagine, wiping some of the water away from his clenched shut eyes. Luckily, he was cut off when his feet slipped out from underneath him, and he collapsed straight onto his rear end.

The tears of being terribly stunned was only growing in the edges of my eyes. No longer taking any chances, I leaped over Ashton's now completely damp body and bashed out of the kitchen like I was just face-to-face with the devil himself. In the distance, I could hear Ashton's voice viciously calling out, "Hey!"

"Johnny! Johnnycake!" I was on the verge of breaking down in complete tears as I continued my way over to the table where the gang was. By the looks of it, Dally hadn't come back from going after Jocelyn's pacifier.

Johnny's black eyes instantly shot huge, and he gazed in my direction when he picked up me calling his name. Before he got a chance to say anything, I collapsed down into the seat next to him and berried my face into his arm, crying my heart out. The rest of the gang instantly stopped their conversations and laughter about God knows what and turned their undivided attention to me. Their eyes were now widened, swarming with concern.

"Cass, what's wrong? What happened?" Johnny asked in a tone that was mixed with seriousness and worry. As I lifted my head from his arm, his jean jacket now stained with my salty tears, he wrapped his free arm around my shoulders and held me close.

"Are you alright, Cassidy?" questioned the curious Ponyboy, who was unsuccessfully cocking an eyebrow.

I wiped away as many times as I could and caught a hold of myself, grasping a deep breath to remain calm. Nobody had no idea how much I wanted to tell the truth about what just happened in the kitchen, but just as I was about to spill my guts, I stopped. The memories from the night before with the shadowy figure and their evil red eyes were coming back to me. If Johnny and Dally didn't believe me about something serious like that...then why would the gang believe me about somethin' like this? I nervously bit down on my bottom lip, feeling relieved to at least be resting against my older brother. Even if the gang did believe me, I didn't want to ruin our vacation by telling something like this. It was better to just be kept a secret until the time was possibly ever right...but unfortunately, I don't think any right time for a situation like this one could possibly exist.

"Um, Cassidy," Two-Bit's voice shattered my thoughts. "What happened to you?"

I sniffled some and wiped away the remains of my tears. Then I handed over Jocelyn's bottle to Johnny. "...Nothing...I just accidentally burned my hand when getting the hot water ready for Jocelyn's bottle"

Embarrassedly, I raised my shoulders and bit down on my bottom lip. Two-Bit began to snicker a little, but he stopped when Steve thumped him over the back of his head, and Johnny shot him a small, rare, warning stare.

"Two-Bit, this ain't a laughing matter!" Soda shook his head, a mouthful of chewed up eggs.

I made a somewhat disgusted face, but I didn't bother to say anything. That was Sodapop Curtis for you.

Darry rolled his eyes. "Chew with your mouth _closed_, Soda."

Soda gazed at him, his brown eyes sparkling with innocence, but all he did was shrug and follow Darry's order.

Jocelyn was reaching for her bottle, but Johnny had to make sure that the milk wasn't too hot before she could take a single drop. Just seeing Johnny holding the bottle away made Jocelyn's bottom lip quiver, and it wouldn't be long before she would burst into another fit of steaming tears.

Johnny sighed, making sure Jocelyn was seated on his lap before he tugged up his sleeve and shook out some of the milk. After some of the small droplets met his skin, he stopped and waited about two seconds before he leaned Jocelyn back and began to feed her. Happily, Jocelyn rested her eyes shut and slurped at her milk. I wish that I could've been smiling at least a tiny bit at that sight, but I couldn't after what I just went through with Ashton.

"Cass, taking care of Jocelyn is a gigantic responsibility. You know that it's important to be cautious at all times, and that's all that I can basically tell you. Just be careful from now on, okay?" Johnny gave my cheek a quick kiss and he offered me a small smile afterwards.

I bit down on my thumbnail, trying my hardest to forget about what happened in the kitchen as I slowly nodded my head. A sick knot wouldn't stop tightening up in the pit of my stomach, so I lost my appetite greatly.

I wonder if Johnny still suffered with the terrible memories of when he murdered Bob Sheldon...or when he and Ponyboy ran away...and when he almost died after being in a fire incident. God, that horrifying picture still stabbed me in the heart. It's as if I could hear Johnny screaming in pain, trying to holler for help through the beaming flames and thick smoke. Yet, Johnnycake was sitting right beside me, still smiling some as he continued to feed Jocelyn her bottle. I might've not been able to read minds, but this feeling inside of me was clearly telling my wounded and patched up heart that no matter how much time flew by, Johnny would forever remember those scarring memories. It's not like he had a choice either...unfortunately, that is. And I didn't have a choice much myself.

_Jade's POV_

_I won't let anybody hurt you...nobody will take you on my watch...I'm here for you every hour of every day..._

God, I certainly broke those promises, along with many more...just thinking about all of them brought rare salty tears to my eyes.

I had recently finished checking into The County Lodge, and lucky for me, the owner allowed me to keep Zeus since there weren't as many guests staying like he pictured there would be during something like winter break. My room was on the seventh floor, and right after I unlocked the white door with the key that Mr. Roberts gave me, I was instantly struck with the thought that my hotel room strangely reminded me so much of my kid sister's bedroom back before my old man and I moved to Tulsa...and before the drunk driver incident with Sara and my mother took place.

Sara...my beautiful kid sister...I loved her and my mom so much. Sara looked just like me, but her hair was longer and more bouncy with glossy curls. Not only that, but she was born with two different eye colors; one of her eyes were my color, and the other was pure green. Man...it seems just like yesterday I was reading to her and tucking her in, but not without giving her a goodnight kiss and turning on her favorite nightlight. Her little eyes would be relaxingly shut, fast asleep and happily dreaming as I would stroke her hair and whisper many different promises to her, hoping that she could hear them somehow in her sleep. I would always love her no matter what...nobody could hurt her with me by her side...I was there any time she needed to talk about anything...and so on and so on. Unfortunately, all of those promises died with my mom and little sister when the police showed up at my house on that tragic day and reported that they found two dead bodies after an auto-wreck incident. One little girl, and one woman...my kid sister and mom were identified as the victims. My dad practically broke down from massive heartbreak right then and there, and I bashed right upstairs to my bedroom with Zeus trotting after me. Without waiting, I slammed the door behind me and Zeus and locked it, purposely flying myself straight down onto the carpeted floor as I cried at the top of my lungs, as if it was my job. Sara was just seven years old when she was taken from me.

Zeus rested his head on my knee and whimpered, holding the upper part of his leash in his mouth as I sat there on the pink bed. I absolutely _hated _pink...but it reminded me so much of my Sara. I was holding back the tears as I gazed at my framed family photo that I was holding in my hands. I refused to go anywhere without it; it reminded me when everything was much simpler. Sometimes I wish that I never grew up...you know, so I could still have my mom and kid sister, and my old man wouldn't have became an alcoholic worker. However, you don't get everything you want in life...that's just the way that things are in this twisted world.

I took a deep breath as I carefully placed my family photo down onto the white nightstand, where it leaned against the lamp and beside the phone. After that, I quickly wiped away all of my tears before any of them got a chance to escape either of my eyes. It took a whole lot to get me to cry, considering that I was very modest and I had a high self-esteem. Nonetheless, there would always be that wound on my heart from my life taking such a sick twist, all thanks to a stupid drunk driver.

I sighed, taking one more glimpse at my family photo and greatly holding back the tears when taking in Sara's smile. We both looked just like our mom; my father always went on and on about before the accident. Now he just cries, drinks, and works, as if Zeus and I still aren't alive.

"All right, Zeus, come on. I know you're hungry." I stood up from the bed and tugged at Zeus' leash when he offered it to me. After that, he scampered by my side, but after I opened up the door, Zeus lunged in front of me and studied the hallway with that look of protection in his eyes. I waited until Zeus gazed back at me and gave me a single bark, like he was trained to do if the cost was clear or if anything was alright.

As I exited my room, sealing up all of the memories of Sara as I closed the door and locked it behind me, I couldn't help but to pick up the sound of what I could tell was somebody whistling not that far from where I was. Whoever he or she was, they were somewhere around the left part of the hallway's turn.

Zeus' ears twitched upward, and his lips curled back to reveal all of his pointy and deadly teeth as he snarled.

"Quiet now, Zeus..." I softly whispered, and just like that, Zeus obeyed me. I bit down on my bottom lip and continued to stand still, listening more to the whistling to see if I had heard it from someplace before. It _did _sound strangely familiar, and I could tell by the tune that it was a male who was busy whistling away.

Me being the carefree and curious person that I was, I raised my eyebrows and felt my pocket to hook my free hand into. I could feel the pack of gum and few M&M's stuffed inside of my worn out jeans pocket as I tugged at Zeus' leash with my other hand, motioning him quietly to follow me. Though I ended up following him because anytime that there was a noise of any kind outside of my house, Zeus would make sure that he would be in front of me at all times.

Zeus' paws patted against the light wooden floor, just as I was making sure that my running shoes weren't making any noise with each small tiptoe I took. When Zeus and I finally made it around the corner, the whistling tune still remaining in the air, my eyes grew wide at the sight of none other than the one and only Dallas Winston. I remember hearing a bunch news reports about him and even his sister Valerie back at my old home before my father, Zeus, and I moved to Tulsa to attempt starting fresh with our lives. By the way that he looked, I guess other girls would see him as that hoodlum that he was claimed to be...but I didn't.

"Whoo wee!" I practically cheered at the top of my lungs. "Would you look at what I got here? Dallas Winston in the flesh!"

Dallas' whistling came to an end, and he shot himself around. His eyes were pale blue, blazing off hatred towards the world...at least that's what one of the news people said a few months ago about him. His eyes were always drowning in bitterness and eagerness to be left alone.

Zeus sat beside me and panted, but after Dallas locked eyes with mine, he began to softly snarl.

"And who do I just so happen to have here with me?" Dallas coolly shrugged and kicked back against the wall. I could see that he was beginning to twirl what looked like a pink pacifier around his right hand's pointer finger.

A smirk spread across my face. "I'm a greaser back in Tulsa myself, Winston. The names Jadelyn Christine Thomas, but everybody calls me Jade for short."

"Ah," Dallas' mouth hung open, as if he was interested. "I just figured that you were none other than one of 'em broads wondering 'bout directions to Buck's place."

Usually, I bet other girls would've heated up like a flame of fire from anger, or some would've even broke down into tears and wonder why Dallas would say such a thing to them. Though I wasn't like that. Instead of getting feisty or anything like that, I chuckled a little and allowed my smirk to spread some more.

"Well I can see that you are a master of first impressions. Lucky for me," I pointed my free hand's thumb at myself. "I'm pretty tuff at first impressions myself. You should know that it's not easy to break me, so your badass rep and bitchy attitude won't have me snappin' anytime soon."

To my surprise, Dally bit down on his bottom lip and mockingly snickered. He then gazed around, staring anywhere but at me until he started talking again.

"You sure are a smartass, aren't you, Jadelyn?"

"It's Jade," I quickly corrected him, shrugging my shoulders a little afterwards. "And I guess bein' a smartass just runs in Tulsa, don't you think so, Dallas? I mean, by all of the times you were taken to the cooler, I figured that you would already know that by heart."

Dally raised his eyebrows at me and attempted walking forward, but before he could fit many steps in, Zeus warningly barked and got into his pouncing position, snarling protectively and flashing his pointy teeth. Sternly, I narrowed my eyes and tugged at Zeus' leash. Dallas' smug like grin grew a little more as he slowly backed up the same amount of steps that he took towards me.

"No, Zeus! Bad dog! Sit down!" I hissed. Whimpering a little, Zeus' dark eyes pooled up with plead for forgiveness, and he rested himself at my side again like he was trained to do.

Dally leaned against the wall again, his fists now jammed in his jeans pockets. "Quite some dog you got there..."

I took in a deep breath and blew my bangs out from dangling in front of my face. "Yeah, Zeus is a protective one; he'll bite somebody's head off if that's what it takes in order to keep me safe. Do you have a dog, Dallas?"

"Call me Dally," Dallas instructed me with an annoyed like roll of his eyes. "And I already have one bitch to look after, as known as my kid sister. I don't need some other bitch walkin' on four legs, so do you think I have a damn dog?"

I pat Zeus' head when I began to hear him softly growling again, and I smirked widely at Dally. Snickering, I said, "I can see the fuzz probably have a blast reeling you in."

"Oh, the best," Dally cracked another little smirk as he sarcastically spoke. "How do you know so much 'bout my police record?"

I jokingly rolled my eyes and began to giggle. "Hell,_ everybody _knows 'bout you and your troubling ways, Winston! I used to watch a countless amount of news reports that were centered around you when I lived back at my old home in Las Angeles!"

"The fuzz will do anythin' to get me stuck in that livin' hell," growled Dally, right before he blew his almost white bangs out from falling in his face. "I freaking swear, no matter what I say or do, they freakin' consider it as somethin' illegal nearly 24/7."

My madman smirk grew wider. "Can't say that I don't blame 'em, Dally."

Dally narrowed his eyes, trying to fight a new small smirk from curling up on his lips. "...You're an okay broad...but you better watch the smartass remarks that you seem to be overflowin' with. I might just have to kick your ass by the end of this winter break."

I rolled my eyes, obviously still not falling for Dally's tough act. "Speakin' of you being here for winter break, did you and Valerie come by yourselves?"

Dally shook his head at me. "First of all, she accepts only bein' called Vinny. If you dare to call her by her real name, she claims that she'll clobber you into the earth's core. Now secondly, we came here with our group of pals so we can spend time away from Tulsa together."

I cocked an eyebrow. "More greasers, huh? You and 'Vinny' are a part of a new gang?"

"Ever since we left New York and our old bitchy gang from there, considering they attempted raping Vinny...yeah." Dally coolly rolled his shoulders and gave me a slight nod. This sudden look of boredom was now detailed all over his face. "Now I don't have time for another round of Twenty Questions, you hear? I need to bring one of my friend's a pacifier for his baby sister."

"...I always knew that you had some soft spot in that crusty shelled heart of yours, Winston!" I called out to him, hesitating for a moment so I could just give him my smirk, right before I watched him begin to walk away.

I could hear Dally cursing under his breath, but instead of turning back around and starting an argument with me, he kept walking and pointed up one of his middle fingers.

"Real freakin' mature..." I muttered under my breath, chuckling some before I fixed my eyes down at Zeus, who was glancing right back at me and panting. I gave his head a few gentle pats, and then gently pulled at his leash again. Understandingly, Zeus rose up on his four legs and trotted by my side as I headed down in the direction where Dally had just disappeared into one of the elevators. The hallway flooded with silence, and I quietly hummed Sara's favorite song to myself as I rested my eyes shut and allowed Zeus to lead me. Unfortunately, I was too caught up in the memories of my mother and Sara flooding back into my head that I didn't notice this one door slightly cracked open, and a black gloved hand snatched out from only a couple of inches behind me whence I passed the doorframe. It was as if somebody attempted to grab my hair, but I didn't realize that he or she was there right then, spying on me with such scary eyes. I had absolutely no clue about what this vacation had in store for me and all of the other guests.

_Two-Bit's POV_

Later on that night around 10:00, I was sitting on my bed in a pair of my Mickey Mouse pajamas. I had just finished taking a shower, so I was now trying to focus on some random show that I decided to leave the TV on. However, there was just this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know how to explain it, but every time I thought about what happened to Cassidy's hand during breakfast, the sick feeling only seemed to be growing more and more sour. It was as if something was telling me that something wasn't right with the middle Cade...and our gang sticks together no matter what. Through the thick and thin, no matter how much we get annoyed by each other or we argue, we're all just as close as peas in a gigantic pod.

Apparently, Steve was going on and on about something I did that irritated him all through today. I honestly had no idea about what he was talking about, but as he scrubbed his toothpaste covered teeth with his toothbrush, he spoke everything that he claimed that I did the best that he could. Why is it when every time something strange happens, I'm the first one that the gang turns to suspect?

"Steve, for the last time, I _did not _come back into the room after I left! I met up with the rest of the gang downstairs in the feasting hall!" I attempted fixing my eyes back onto the TV, but Steve was madly pacing back and forth, now dressed in a gray muscle shirt and a baggy pair of brown pajama pants. He was still brushing his teeth too, trying not to spit any of the toothpaste anywhere.

"Yes, you did! You can't lie to me, Mathews!" Steve tried to exclaim angrily, but it wasn't long before a splash of toothpaste flew out of his mouth and landed on my arm.

"Ew, Steve! You freaking spit on me!" I proclaimed with a complete overdramatic tone, just as I quickly wiped away the toothpaste from my arm with the bottom lining of my pajama shirt.

Steve rolled his eyes, obviously growing more annoyed, and he took his toothbrush out of his mouth. After that, he wiped away the remaining toothpaste from his lips and he must've gulped down what was left in his mouth.

"Suck it up, Two-Bit!" hissed the irritated Steve. "And why can't you just stop lying? I know that you came back in here and didn't respond to any of my calls for you! Instead, you turned on the TV to the news channel and quickly left the room yet again before I could come out from the bathroom to catch you!"

I shook my head. "Steve, I'm just upset that I didn't think of doin' something like that to your first."

Impatience and anger were both stirring up in my roommate's eyes as he shot daggers at me. Cursing under his breath, Steve then did a face-palm, running his hand through his hair afterwards and ruffling up all of the complicated swirls.

"Two-Bit, I'm not playin' around with you! This is a vacation, not a freaking clown convention!"

"But I honestly don't know what you're talkin' about!" I began to raise my voice a little, but I thought that I sounded like I was begging for Steve to actually listen to me. "I'm serious, roomie! Just ask Soda! After I left the room, I caught up with him to tell him what you told me to tell him!"

"I told you to _not _call me 'roomie,' Two-Bit Mathews!" Steve's teeth were now clenched. "And if you didn't come back in here after you left like you claim you did...then who would've just wandered into our room, cracked open the bathroom door, turned the TV on, and then took off again?"

I shrugged, feeling that ill twisting twitch in the pit of my stomach again. It was as if Cassidy's so-called burned hand incident was connected to this other strange feeling I got towards what Steve just told me. It was almost like...somethin' was telling me that something terrible was going to happen.

"Maybe it was just one of the others. I mean, they're the only ones who know that we're in this room, and I don't think anybody else is on this floor."

Steve rolled his eyes. "I doubt that Kitten, Ponyboy, Johnny, or even Dally or Vinny would do somethin' like that, Mathews. This seems to have your name written all over it if you ask me."

"But I _didn't _do it!" Now my voice was beginning to sound definitely more pleading than anything. "After I left, I went straight downstairs to the first floor! Is it really that hard for you to understand, Steve? I never came back into our room! Though I must admit that if I thought about doin' that kind of prank first, I actually would be behind it."

Steve suddenly looked unsure of himself, and he bit down on his free hand's thumbnail. Silence met the room, other than the sound of the TV, and Steve began to glance anywhere but at me. I kept my eyes on him the whole time, waiting to hear what he would say this time.

"...All right...I guess that I have no choice but to believe you. I hate to admit it, but you do sound pretty damn convincing."

I released a deep breath of relief and nodded at Steve.

"Unfortunately," Steve went on talking, raising his eyebrow with concern. "That doesn't explain why this so-called prank took place."

I shrugged. "If you ask me, I'm stickin' to it bein' one of the others. Who else could it possibly be?"

Steve just looked at me, his eyebrow still cocked, and he touched his chin with his free hand's index finger.

"What about Cassidy's burned hand?" I broke the new silence that crept into the room.

"What are you talkin' about, Mathews?" questioned Steve.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that burns are a noticeable injury. We've been through 'nough rumbles to know different types of injuries by heart and what caused 'em, right?"

Confusion was only pooling up in Steve's eyes as he nodded. "I guess, but why are you bringin' up Cassidy's hand all of the sudden?"

"I just don't know 'bout the so-called burning incident anymore. There wasn't any injury on either of her hands by what I saw, and she didn't eat any breakfast."

Steve crossed his free arm over his stomach. "Okay, I can see where you're comin' from...but why would she lie to us?"

I just shrugged, not bothering to say another word since I honestly had no clue how to answer that question. This vacation was so far very confusing in my eyes, but it was still a vacation, so we might as well continue to make the best out of it.

Steve suddenly looked as if something was eating away at him, like he was heavily thinking about a secret. Nevertheless, I just shook it off.

"How 'bout we just get some sleep? Tomorrow is just 'nother day and we still have the rest of the winter break here." Steve pointed out.

I usually wouldn't want to go to bed at just 10:05, but with so many questions swarming around inside my head, a good nights sleep seemed pretty good.

"Yeah, all right. Night, Stevie!" I snatched up the remote and turned the TV off, right before I climbed underneath my bed's covers.

"Don't call me that!" warningly growled Steve as he stomped into the bathroom to wrap up with brushing his teeth.

I quietly snickered to myself, turning off the lamp and instantly closing my eyes. I could hear the water from the bathroom sink running, but I didn't care. Unfortunately, it covered up the noise of what would be defined as the locked doorknob slightly jiggling.

_Nobody's POV_

Ponyboy rested comfortably in his green double bed, his eyes dreamily shut as he soothingly breathed. Soda's arm was swung lazily around his shoulders, holding him close as he snored like a tractor, but it was as if Ponyboy and Darry were immune to any decently noisy sound. Technically, they actually were when it came to Sodapop. Lastly, Darry was curled up in the other green double bed, snoring much quieter than Soda, and catching a good nights sleep.

The clock had just struck 2:00 A.M., and everybody in The County Lodge was fast asleep.

However, it wasn't long before Pony began to stir, thanks to his eardrums picking up the sound of what was like somebody softly knocking from the opposite side of the locked door.

"What the..." Ponyboy yawned quietly to himself, rubbing his eyes with his balled up fists before he carefully sat up, which made Soda's arm fall back down to the mattress. The youngest Curtis scanned the room, taking in how peacefully Soda and Darry were asleep, even though they were both snoring at different volumes.

Ponyboy continued to softly moan to himself, his eyes droopy from not being used to waking up so dang early. Nonetheless, it was as if his tiredness was knocked straight out of him after he heard the knocking at the door begin to increase its volume by just a smidge or two.

Fearfully, Pony's eyes shot huge, and he took no hesitation to grab a hold of Soda's shoulder and shake him. "Soda! Soda, wake up!"

"Huh? Ponyboy...what in the world...did you have a nightmare?" Soda stirred and crawled up into a sitting position almost instantly after he was woke up by his baby brother's nudges.

Eagerly, Ponyboy shook his head and trembled, cuddling himself closer to Soda. "N-No nightmare..."

Soda wrapped his arms around him and gave him a bear hug. "Then why are you shakin' like that?"

Pony opened his mouth to reply, but before he got a chance to do so, the knocking at the door was heard again.

Sodapop's eyes seemed to bulge right out of his head.

"_That's _why!" Pony gulped and nervously pointed towards the door.

"...Who in the world could that be?" whispered the both determined and nervous Soda.

Ponyboy shrugged, and he instantly yelped some when the knocking came yet again. "I don't know...but whoever they are, they want in."

Soda took a gaze over at the foot of his and Ponyboy's bed, only so he could realize that his DX cap was suddenly not there anymore. That's strange...it was there when Soda unpacked it, and he left it there the entire time.

"Hey, where'd my hat go?" Soda questioned, but instead of getting a response from Ponyboy, more knocking at the door was heard. Without a single moment of hesitating much longer, Sodapop dove right out of his and Pony's bed and practically dove right on top of Darry.

"Step away from my kid brothers!" Darry's voice was hoarse and tired as he instantly jolted straight up into a sitting position, looking as if he was ready to beat the hell out of an intruder.

"Whoa, whoa! Darry, it's alright!" Ponyboy spoke up before his oldest brother could possibly take a swing at Soda.

"Yeah, yeah! It's just me, Darry!" Soda nodded his head, blocking his face with both of his hands.

"Oh..." Darry took in and let out a deep breath of relief. "What in the world are you two doin' up? It's just..." He stopped for a moment to gaze at the clock. "It's just 2:03 in the morning."

"We know, but-" Pony attempted to tell Darry about the strange knocking at the door, but before he could get a word out about it, Darry caught the knocking himself.

The three brothers snapped their full attention over to the locked door.

"What in the almighty..." Darry stopped talking and gently, but yet roughly pushed Sodapop off from him. After that, he quickly pounced up onto his feet and pulled on his robe, considering he had no shirt on and was just wearing a pair of pajama pants.

"What are you goin' to do, Darry?" Ponyboy nervously squeaked, which had Soda holding him again in a heartbeat.

"Don't worry, Ponyboy. I'm goin' to handle whoever is out there." assured Darry, just as more knocking was heard from the opposite side of the locked door. "Soda, where's your switch?"

"It's in the nightstand's drawer. My DX cap went missing, Darry."

"Missing?" Darry confusedly cocked an eyebrow as he quietly and quickly pulled out Soda's switchblade from the nightstand's drawer.

Soda pouted and nodded. "Yeah. I left it at the foot of the bed after we unpacked and it's been there ever since. But now...it's just gone."

Darry opened his mouth to say something back, but before he could, the doorknob suddenly jiggled.

Pony paled and berried his face into Sodapop's chest, and Soda stroked his hair as Darry began to tiptoe his way over to the door.

Quickly, Darry gazed over his shoulder and whispered to his kid brothers, "You two stay right there! Don't move a muscle or anythin', you hear?"

Understandingly, Soda and Ponyboy both nodded, and Darry turned his attention back towards the door. Without waiting, Superman unlocked the door and quickly flung it open, Soda's switchblade being clenched tightly in one of his hands. Strangely though, all that was out in the hallway was nothing but complete dimness.

"What in the..." Darry muttered under his breath, raising his eyebrows in confusion as he poked his head out the door. When he gazed to the right, he saw nothing, but when he glanced to the left, he could've sworn that he saw some shadowy figure dash around the corner.

Darry's eyes went bigger than ever before, and he told his kid brothers one final time to stay put before he bashed out the door. With every corner Darry bashed over, he could've sworn there was a dark figure making his or her way quickly around the next left or right hallway. Not giving up, Darry kept running in the dim hallway, listening to his bare feet race against the cold wooden floor. Nevertheless, Darry finally stopped running when he turned around the next corner and bolted straight into somebody. Darry and this other guy grunted, having the air slimly knocked out of them.

"Darry?"

The oldest Curtis' eyes widened again; he knew that voice by heart.

"Tim Shepard? What are you doin' here?"

There standing in front of Darry was Timothy Shepard, dressed in a plain black pair of torn pajamas, and his dark red hair was a complete wreck. There were slightly dark bags resting underneath his eyes, too.

"Curly, Angela, and I came here for winter break. What 'bout you?" Tim questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"I brought the gang here since Ponyboy and Soda just _begged _me for this vacation," responded Darry. "But strangely, Soda and Pony just woke me up due to these strange noises at the door. I heard 'em too, though."

Tim's eyes flooded with confusion. "You, too? Curly just woke me up over the same thing!"

"You mean...you, Angela, and Curly are the three other guests from Tulsa?" Darry scratched the back of his neck.

Tim nodded. "Yeah, that's right. I should've known that you and the rest of your gang must've been here though."

"And why's that?"

"Because this DX cap just couldn't belong to nobody."

Darry's eyes grew wide all over again whence he watched Tim bring out Soda's DX cap from behind his back.

"W-Where...where did you find this?" Darry confusedly questioned after he took the cap from Tim's offering hand.

"I just found it in the hallway, strangely abandoned. That's not like Soda to me, Darry." Tim pointed out.

Darry bit down on his bottom lip. "Yeah...that's definitely not like him to leave this just lyin' 'round..."

Tim crossed his arms. "Well, we better get back to our rooms before we get busted by the owner of this hotel. Curfew is still on until the wakeup calls after all. I bet whoever was at our doors was just pullin' a prank."

Darry hesitantly nodded. "Yeah...you're probably right...night, Tim."

"Night, Darry. See you and the others in the morning."

As the two went their separate ways, Darry couldn't stop thinking about how Tim just found Soda's DX hat in the hallway like that. Why...how...Soda never even took it out of their room...how could it just suddenly end up in the hallway like that? And who would pull such a prank a little passed 2:00 in the morning?

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**A/N: Another cliffhanger! XD**

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**This will probably be the longest chapter in the whole book! We'll see though! :P**

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	8. Tragedy First Strikes

**A/N: Who is ready for another chapter? I know I am! Only a few more until we hit double digits! :D **

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**I hope you all enjoy the next part of drama and suspense! Onward with the chapter! Please review and enjoy! :D :D :) :)**

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_Cassidy's POV_

God, how could I be so damn stupid? I burned my hand in hot water? What in the hell was I freaking thinking? I spend most of my time hanging out with Dally and Vinny back in Tulsa of all places and _that's _the best lie that I could come up with? I'm sure that a five-year-old begging for candy could've gotten away with something with a more convincing lie! Well...I guess it's fine since the gang believed it. Though I honestly thought that Johnny or at least Darry would've asked me to show them where I got burned. Luckily, neither of them did, but I had to go through the entire breakfast with my hands in my jeans pockets and my mouth clamped shut. I didn't want to risk accidentally saying something about Ashton, and I didn't want my voice to crack from any pain or sorrow.

I've never had such an experience like that before in my whole twelve years of being alive. I've been through a countless amount of rumbles, most without weapons and most with them, but I've never been grabbed in a dirty manner by any of 'em Socs. As for my dark home life, my old man might've got drunk on his ass and my mom might've popped pills, but they never said or done anything sexual to me, Johnny, or Jocelyn. I never imagined getting "sweet talked" like _that _by anybody, especially some seventeen-year-old guy who has a girlfriend. I guess that Johnny might know how it feels to get so-called sweet talked, considering Sylvia pushed him against the lockers at school and attempted winning his heart over. Johnny never even had his first kiss yet; _that's _how terrified he is around girls, minus the girls in our gang. I still can't believe that Dally ever bothered to stick with some slutty skank like Sylvia. Whenever Dally got thrown into the cooler, Sylvia was out and stealing some other innocent guys virginities.

That thought honestly scared me. If some "polite" girl like Sylvia could go out and get laid, whether the boys want it or not...it made me think about what else could've happened between Ashton and I. What if I didn't punch him to the floor, but did what Johnny told me to do in the past and scream for help? Ashton could've killed me right then or there...or worse, he could've covered my mouth and got me to go back to his room with him. At least Johnny had Steve there to protect him, threatening Sylvia to back off before she could possibly do God knows what else she had in mind.

I must've got no more than two hours of sleep so far. I kept waking up from nightmares of that Ashton getting his ways with me and that shadowy figure with the glowing red eyes. As for the other hours, I was busy softly crying to myself, making sure that I kept my tears under control in order to not wake Johnny, Dally, and Jocelyn up. At least I felt a little bit calmer with Johnny's arms securely wrapped around my waist, and Dallas Winston was in the other bed that had his knife collection secretly underneath it. That, and he had a recently sharpened switchblade on the nightstand. With those new thoughts in my mind, I was finally able to wipe away my salty tears and close my eyes. Thankfully, I fell fast asleep for about the billionth time that night.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before I suddenly began to stir to what felt like fingers gently running through my hair. It must've been just 3:00 or so in the morning. Quietly, I groaned and gently nudged Johnny in the shin with my bare foot.

"Johnnycake, cut it out...I'm tryin' to sleep..." I yawned a little and kept my eyes shut, but my hair was still getting stroked. Johnny would always stroke my hair whenever I was upset about something, or I couldn't fall asleep to begin with. But didn't he just hear me say that I didn't want him to stroke my hair right then? This time, I nudged Johnny a little harder in the ribs, and I got a obviously exhausted moan quietly seeping from his lips.

"Johnny, please...stop stroking my hair...I can get back to sleep on my own..." However, Johnnycake wouldn't listen to me. That was strange, because he would usually stop whenever I asked him to, but he kept raking his fingers gently through my silky locks.

Finally, I groaned a little louder, this one more out of annoyance, and I gently pushed myself onto my back left side so I could see Johnny. The hair stroking instantly stopped. I opened my mouth to ask him again to quit it, but to my discovery, Johnny's eyes were dreamily shut, and he was soothingly breathing...he was out like a light. Confusion flooded my eyes as I also realized that both of his arms were still connected around my waist.

"Johnnycake?" I gently nudged his arm, but all I got from him were a couple of tired whimpers. He couldn't have been pretending to be asleep.

Nervousness and fear began to take over my mind. If Johnny wasn't stroking my hair...then who was? Dally couldn't have been doing it, and Jocelyn obviously couldn't have either. I continued to stare at Johnny's face, taking in how peaceful he looked. His heavily greased, jet-black bangs were all shagged up in front of his closed eyes. A slim grin made its way onto my face, and I carefully used my fingertips to gently stroke Johnny's bangs away from dangling right in front of his face. Luckily, I didn't wake him up; all I got him to do was quietly moan tiredly again.

Quietly, I couldn't help myself to snicker. Back in Tulsa, usually whenever our folks were out getting drunk at an opened all night bar, Johnny would brush my hair out of my face with his fingertips. There were times where I would just pretend to be asleep only so I could feel Johnny soothingly touching my hair. Afterwards, I would feel him give my temple a soft kiss and whisper about how much he loved me...he was the best big brother anybody could ever ask for.

I decided to see if I could carefully wiggle my way closer to Johnnycake so I could give him a little kiss, whether it was on his cheek, his forehead, or even his nose. I didn't care; I wanted to grow to be like him some day...but at the same time, I don't want to grow up and have to leave him one day. Luckily, that was still a long while away.

Just as I began to slowly move myself closer to Johnny, I peeked up at the other side of the bed for just a split second to realize something. My dark eyes shot huge, and I already started to feel my heart pick up the frightening pace in my now rapidly huffing chest. My breaths were deep and sharp, but soft so I wouldn't wake anybody up. Please tell me that I was dreaming, _please _oh _please _tell me that I was freaking dreaming! I must've been stuck in some nightmare! I couldn't have just saw...

I took in one final deep breath, forcing it to stay in my lungs. My heart beat faster and faster with each pump it roared in my chest. Hoping to death that what I just saw was my imagination, I forced myself to glance back over at the opposite side of mine and Johnny's double bed. Unfortunately, I was met with the same sight...and it terrified the living crap out of me.

My picked up breathing began again after I instantly released my previous deep breath from shock. Standing there at the other side of mine and Johnny's double bed...was the same exact shadowy figure that the gang and I saw on the road, and what I saw outside the window not many nights ago. The same oversized winter coat...the exact floppy rain hat...I'm guessing the pair of heavy boots...and what terrified me the most...the pair of glowing red eyes that were staring at me right then and there. They were viciously narrowed, as if this figure wasn't even a human, and he or she looked like at any moment now, they would do something to hurt me, Johnny, Dally, and Jocelyn.

Without thinking about how early it was in the morning, I allowed my fear to get the best of me yet again. A sharp jolt sprang through my entire body as my mouth fell open, and I yanked the covers up over my head as a piercing, bloodcurdling scream erupted from me. My eyes were now clamped shut tighter than ever before; goosebumps covered my skin, no matter how warm the beds were, and I began to feel as pale as a trembling ghost.

I could feel Johnny's body instantly jerk up by the time my scream came to a stop, followed by Dally's hoarse voice groaning out with annoyance, "Hell, what is it this freakin' time?"

It wasn't long after that until I heard Jocelyn begin to cry.

"Ugh," Dally heavily sighed. "Don't worry, baby Cade. I got you."

A colder chill was spiked at me shortly after Johnny grasped a hold of the covers and yanked them away from "hiding" me underneath. Knowing that I wasn't the only one awake anymore, I popped my eyes back open and felt a chilly sweat begin to form all over my body. I gazed at Johnny, seeing how nervous and tired he looked, but just as I was about to quickly point towards the other side of the bed, I realized something that gave my heart such a shocking jolt. The dark figure was gone. _Again_! Confusedly, I narrowed my fearful eyes and spied all around the room, but I didn't see any shadowy figure anywhere.

Dally was now cradling Jocelyn in his arms, hushing her quietly and running his fingers through her knotted up curls. Then he switched over to quietly humming a song to her and rubbing her back. Luckily, her loud cries began to fade, and she poked her thumb into her mouth. Her salty tears began to dry up, and she relaxingly battered her adorable, big eyes.

"Cassidy, what in the almighty world is goin' on? Why did you scream like that?" Johnny finally asked, concernedly battering his dark puppy dog eyes.

I quickly continued to stare all around the room, still seeing nobody else except Dally, Jocelyn, and Johnny. Finally, I made eye-contact with Johnny again; my dark eyes were huge and full of a mixture of unexpected shock, extreme worry, and of course, absolute fear. I attempted to answer Johnny's question, but every word that I wanted to say only seemed to get jammed in my throat. I was growing paler by the minute, trembling like tomorrow wouldn't ever come.

Johnny wrapped his arms around me, quietly hushing me as he stroked my hair with his fingertips. Now I could tell the difference between how he and that dark figure touched my hair; Johnny was gentle and comforting, but that shadowy figure was rougher and pressing his or hers fingers down some. My eyes were remaining huge and glassy like, and I rested my head on Johnny's chest. As I rapidly breathed to myself, I could hear the beatings of Johnny's heart madly going.

"I-I saw it again!" I bawled out, staining Johnny's pajama shirt with my salty tears. "I-It was here again!"

Dally curiously raised his eyebrows. "_What _was here again?"

I sniffled, allowing Johnny to stroke away some of my teardrops, but more only continued to drench down my face.

"T-That dark figure was here again! I saw them! H-He or she was s-stroking my hair!" I barely could get any of my words out; it felt like they were slowly being choked out of me.

Johnny's eyes seemed to go as wide as saucers, but were no where close to being as huge as mine. I could've sworn that the color rushed out of his skin; he looked as if he was about to be sick. I knew what that look of his meant. He _was _afraid, but I didn't know for sure if he would continue believing me if he did then or not.

I could've sworn that Dally began to go on with every word in the book, quietly keeping his language under his hoarse breath so Jocelyn wouldn't hear him. I could tell that he didn't believe me _again_...how_ couldn't_ he believe me? I never lied about anything before in my entire life, and I wouldn't start with something _this _serious! Why would I make up some dark figure and say that he or she was stalking us when we were supposed to be escaping all of the terror and suspense?

Just as Dally locked his eyes back on me and opened his mouth, there were a few fast and loud knocks at the door. Dally cursed more, but before he could throw his covers off from over him and probably grab his switchblade, the door flew open to reveal Two-Bit and Steve. They were both instantly screaming with protectiveness; their eyes were warningly narrowed, and in their hands, they were grasping different objects to most likely fight with. In Steve's hands, he held a lamp, and in Two-Bit's, he had an alarm clock. I guess since Jocelyn was in another one of her fussy fits hours ago, Dally, Johnny, and I forgot to lock the door since we were so tired by the time Jocelyn finally stopped crying.

Dally rolled his eyes, his face beginning to glow deadly red. "Can't you two shut the hell up?" He irritatingly demanded as he began to rock Jocelyn in his arms again.

Two-Bit confusedly cocked an eyebrow as he and Steve lowered their "weapons."

Steve groaned and tiredly ran his free hand through his hair. "Do I _dare _ask why Two-Bit and I woke up to some scream that sounded like it belonged to Cassidy?"

I opened my mouth to admit about the shadowy figure, but before I could get a word out, the Curtis' appeared with confusion in their eyes and concern written all over their faces. They look just as exhausted as Two-Bit and Steve, rubbing their somewhat droopy eyes and running their hands through their shagged up hair. Darry looked as if he was getting ready to beat somebody up, flexing his muscles and harshly glaring around.

"What in the hell is goin' on in here?" Vinny's impatient voice rang out, moaning with obvious drowsiness as she then appeared with Kitten slumping by her side.

"Yeah, Darry, Ponyboy, and I were jolted awake by the sound of a loud female scream." pointed out the somewhat nervous Sodapop.

"It was nothing," Dally spoke up before I got the chance to defend myself. "Cassidy just had a nightmare is all."

"That's all?" Steve cocked an eyebrow and pointed a thumb at Ponyboy. "Not even the kid screams _that _loud over some nightmare."

Lazily, Pony shot him a tired scowl, and Soda gave Steve a nudge in the ribs, which made him softly grunt.

My tearful eyes were now gigantic, completely glassy like after I heard Dally speak about some nightmare in the first place. The sweat dripping all around on my skin was only growing colder, even with me still resting myself against Johnny's warm chest.

"It wasn't a nightmare! It was real!" I practically exclaimed my words at the top of my lungs. More salty tears were only making their ways down my beating red face.

Darry concernedly raised his eyebrows. "What are you talkin' about, Cassidy?"

"Darry, she had a damn nightmare, all right?" Dally's eyes were now narrowed, and he was beginning to raise his voice.

I clenched my hands into tight fists and I began to grind my teeth together. That was the last freaking straw. My tears of fear and sorrow were now beginning to become beating hot from impatience and anger.

Furiously, I bellowed out without thinking, "Stop lying, Dallas! I didn't have any damn nightmare!"

Stunned silence instantly met the room. My face grew redder, but this time was out of embarrassment. I knew better than to use that kind of language, especially to my own friends and with my baby sister in the same room. Nervously, I began to slowly roll my eyes all around, gazing anywhere but at any of the gang. I shamefully twirled my thumbs around each other, wishing that I could change what just happened. I didn't want to turn into some bitchy jackass, but I was trying to get the truth out. How come nobody would believe me though?

Vinny was glaring at me, as if she was saying, "Nobody talks like that to my brother but me!" To my surprise, Dally looked just as shocked as everybody else in the gang did. Instead of giving me a ticked off scowl like he would usually do to anyone, he was nibbling on his bottom lip and looking at me with big eyes.

"Cassidy Ellen Cade!" Johnny's voice finally broke the silence, but I could tell that he wasn't pleased. I felt him tug at my arm, but when I refused to look at him from my shame, he cuffed his hands carefully around my face and made me make eye-contact. His soft eyes that were usually full of shyness and care were now narrowed, swarming with shock, tiredness, and that rare anger all in one.

"You know better to use language like that! I haven't allowed it since you heard your first cuss word, so what makes you think that you can cuss now?" Johnny demanded to know, keeping his voice soft, but a little louder than usual.

"I didn't mean to!" I honestly replied, sniffling and wiping away some of my tears. "I'm just tryin' to get you to listen! You're my own brother and Dally is one of our good friends, but you two still won't believe me! You think I'm crazy!"

Kitten crossed her arms over her chest and worriedly frowned. "Crazy? Dally, Johnnycake, what's she talking about?"

Before either of them had a chance to respond, I couldn't help myself to throw my arms around Johnny. I held myself close and bawled like a baby, shedding every tear into the crook of his neck. I didn't need to see anybody to know that they all were only growing more surprised, except Dally and Johnny since they knew what was running through my mind.

"Oh, Cass...we never said that you were crazy; you're _not _crazy at all. It's just that...well, you're the only one who seems to be goin' through this type of stuff." I sooner felt Johnny's fingers running through my silky hair again. The tone of his voice was back to its usual shy and caring volume, which had me feeling at least a tiny bit relieved. Unfortunately, we weren't making any progress with the _actual _problem.

"Um...what type of stuff does Cassidy seem to be going through exactly?" Ponyboy questioned, holding a yawn back as he rubbed his eyes.

Johnny sighed. "Apparently, she said that she saw that dark figure from our road trip here outside our window on our first night here. As for tonight, she said that she woke up from her hair bein' stroked, and when she noticed who it was, it was the exact shadowy figure."

"What?" Vinny shook her head with disbelief and placed her hands on her hips. "That's impossible! We're on the seventh floor!"

I eagerly shook my head. "No it's not! I saw him or her with my own eyes! Whoever they were, they were climbing outside and staring right back at me like they knew who they were going after and where they were!"

"But when I went by the window to check, there wasn't anybody out there." Dally interrupted me, probably just in case I started to babble on. "As for tonight, she saw the same exact figure, but it must've vanished again because neither Johnnycake or I saw it."

I could've sworn that I saw Steve beginning to pick at his bottom lip, as if he had something now heavily weighing on his mind. Johnny must've noticed it too, because it wasn't long before he shattered the new quietness with, "Are you alright, Steve?"

Steve bit down on his thumbnail, hesitating for a few seconds before he nodded. Slim confusion was glowing in his eyes, and you could tell that he was thinking about something. "Yeah, I'm fine, Johnnycake."

Ponyboy was now as pale as I was, holding himself tightly between his brothers, who now had their eyes as wide as saucers all over again. Two-Bit and Kitten exchanged their concerned and questioning looks, while Vinny rolled her eyes, and Steve stared at the floor. This strange knot was only tightening more and more in the pit of my stomach by every passing second. It was as if something was telling me that the whole gang had some kind of secret, but no-one was opening up because they thought that it was no big deal.

"Let me guess, you all don't believe me either?" I sniffled, expecting a straight away "No" from everybody, but to my surprise, no-one spoke up right away.

Darry scratched his chin. "I honestly don't know what to believe, considering I don't see why some shadowy figure would be comin' after us."

"There isn't any dark figure!" Vinny groaned as she did an irritated face-palm. A string of curse words followed, which had Dally covering Jocelyn's ears since he knew how much Johnny hated it when she or I heard any language like that. "There wasn't anybody dark or shadowy followin' us from the beginning! Like Darry told us on the freaking drive up here, that so-called figure was just in our heads! We all recently woke up, it was still dark outside, and we were hungry as hell!"

By this time, Soda had even placed his hands over Ponyboy's ears. "Vinny, that's enough, all right? Cassidy, Johnny, and Dally are just tellin' us what's been going on with them! The least we can do is listen like the friends we are to 'em!"

Kitten narrowed her eyes and gave Vinny a cold stare. "You must make the devil very proud. You know, bein' such a bitch and all."

Vinny's lips instantly pulled back, revealing her now grinding teeth. Her face had instantly struck red, and her eyes sharply narrowed. Furiously, she raised both of her middle fingers at Kitten. "You know what, Andrews-" Vinny began to snarl like a junkyard dog, but Darry quickly cut her off. Impatience was sparking up in his sore looking eyes, and a look of warning anger swiped across his face.

"That's enough!" The oldest Curtis proclaimed. "Need I remind you all how I specifically said that we need to be on our best behaviors? If we keep it up like this, we'll most likely get kicked out and our winter break will be us driving back to Tulsa, bored and snowed in back at our place! No more fighting! We're supposed to be on vacation for the first time ever together, so cut the frustrating bull crap!"

Everybody was frozen and wide-eyed, looking at Darry as he ran his hands through his hair and took in a deep breath to remain calm.

Vinny rubbed her hands together and suddenly looked uncomfortable, like she actually regretted acting like that. No, that couldn't have been it; no matter what she said or did, Vinny Winston would never be sorry. That just so happens to run in the Winston family tree, I guess, but at least Dally has a softer spot for me, Johnny, and Jocelyn.

"I'm sorry," Darry apologized when releasing his deep breath. "I just don't want our first vacation together to be such a disaster."

I flashed my puppy dog pout that looked a lot like Johnny's and sighed. "Why do you guys think I didn't want to talk about the shadowy figure?"

"Cassidy, you're just scared," Darry told me as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean, this is our first time getting out of Tulsa, so you're probably homesick or somethin' like that. Tulsa may be pretty banged up, but it's still our hometown."

"So none of you believe me about the dark figure?" I continued to frown like that hopeless puppy. Nobody said anything back to me; the room became deadly quiet all over again, and I noticed that I was receiving some pity looking expressions. I didn't want any pity; all I wanted was to be believed by my own friends and brother. Was that really too much to ask?

"Cassidy-" Johnny attempted saying something, but he stopped whence I released a sigh.

"Fine, don't believe me," Plead was starting to dazzle up in my eyes, "but whether you believe me or not, whether it's sooner or later, I'll continue to have a strange feeling 'bout this place, you hear?"

Steve looked like he was growing more concerned about something, but I didn't bother to say anything.

"We just don't want you to get yourself all worked up over something that's probably in your head." explained Kitten. Unfortunately, that only had me crossing my arms and shaking my head, growing somewhat annoyed all over again. Though, I still didn't say anything; I've had enough talking for one early morning, especially since I now understood that everybody from the gang was basically against whatever I said about this shadowy figure.

"I bet everything will get better, Cassidy," Darry said, which had Soda slimly nodding. "There's no need to be upset or anything, okay? Like I said before, you're probably just homesick and it is only 3:15 in the morning."

Ponyboy connected his hands around the back of his neck, now looking like he was hiding something too. "Darry, what about the strange knocks that we heard, along with our room's doorknob jiggling just about an hour ago?"

Soda suddenly looked a little bit unsure himself. "And didn't you say that my DX cap was just abandoned there in the hallway? I mean, I didn't even take it out of our room."

Darry touched his chin and hummed quietly to himself. He then narrowed his eyes in a thinking manner, obviously trying to sort this all out like Superman would do.

Two-Bit raised his eyebrows at Steve, but in return, Steve slimly shook his head a few times. I didn't know what they were doing, but I had this feeling that they must've experienced something as well. Two-Bit must've been asking Steve if they should bring it up, and Steve denied it.

"I honestly don't think that we have anythin' to worry over," Darry's voice broke the quietness, "there's probably just a prankster runnin' 'round this hotel. It wouldn't surprise me if it was that very pale boy...I believe Ashton was his name."

After I heard Ashton's name fly out of the eldest Curtis' mouth, I instantly felt sick to my stomach. My eyes widened, and I tucked my hands into my pajama shirt's sleeves to hide my skin. I couldn't risk the gang attempting to question me about "my burned hand."

"But why would anyone bother to play these kind of pranks? Especially passed curfew?" I asked.

"I'm afraid that I can't answer that," Darry shrugged his shoulders, "but I think that Mr. Roberts would've told us if anything strange was goin' on in his hotel."

Again, silence met the room, but it was shattered when Steve crossed his arms and said, "That's actually a good point. It's actually expected for any owner to inform their visitors about any troubles if there were any."

Dally rolled his eyes and rested Jocelyn back down in the crib. She was now sucking on her thumb to the point where she was going to fall back asleep at any moment.

"Great," Dally impatiently moaned, "now that we know that there's nothing goin' on around here, can't we go back to bed?"

A goofy, madman like smirk instantly came across Two-Bit's face, and he chuckled out, "You Winston's are certainly not morning people, aren't you?"

Vinny rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything back to the wisecracker of our gang.

"Two-Bit, I'd watch it if I were you! You're already on freakin' thin ice with me!" hissed Dally, who was now holding up a clenched fist. "I may be exhausted as hell, but I can still serve somebody a painful ass kicking!"

"Stop it, Dally!" Darry ordered. "Let's all just get back to sleep! Breakfast here comes fast, so let's get going before we possibly get caught for bein' out of our rooms passed curfew, okay? We'll talk 'bout this more if we have to in the morning."

Ponyboy and Soda nodded, being the first ones to exit mine, Johnny, Dally, and Jocelyn's room.

As for Two-Bit, I noticed him suddenly cocking an eyebrow at me. Then I realized that he must've been catching on about how my hand wasn't actually burned. But before Two-Bit could possibly say something, Steve nudged him and told him to come on.

"There shouldn't be anythin' to discuss...you know that right, Darry?" Vinny practically growled with that same Winston toughness returning from her blood.

Kitten shook her head a few slow times, and she rolled her emerald eyes. "Just shut the hell up, would you, Vin? Nobody is ever in the mood to encounter your wiseass attitude!"

"If you think I care 'bout that, Andrews, then you should just start a conversation with my other friend here." Vinny raised one of her middle fingers again, but she instantly put it back down when she heard Darry's voice. Kitten's scowl vanished right away, too.

"I already said that that's enough with you two arguing! Can't you just grow on each other already? Think about that as you scram back to your room and get some more sleep, would you?"

Kitten hesitantly nodded her head and began her way out of the room with Vinny softly storming behind her. That just left Darry standing there in the doorway with his eyes glued on me, Dally, and Johnny.

"Don't worry about anything, Cassidy. I assure you that everything is going to be all right, and this vacation will turn around for you." Darry offered me a small grin, as if I was the only one in the room with him. I took a moment to digest his words, but just as I was about to open my mouth to say something back, I could've sworn that some dark shadowy sprang its way passed Darry without him even noticing.

My eyes shot huge, but before I could say anything, Dally beat me to it.

"Hey, Darry," Dally raised an eyebrow, "I think Two-Bit or Kitten or someone just bounced across your back, down to the other end of the hallway."

"What?" Darry confusedly turned himself around and studied the hallway, gazing back and forth, each time a little slower than the last. "Um..." Darry took a few more peeks around the dim hallway before he gazed back at me, Dally, and Johnny again.

"Well?" Dally raised his shoulders.

"Your eyes must me playing tricks on you guys or something," Darry informed the three of us. "Nobody else is out here anymore."

Dally looked concerned, but like the Winston's do, he just shrugged it off like it never happened within a couple of seconds.

"Are you sure, Darry?" Johnny suddenly sounded just as nervous as I did before. He must've saw that shadow like shape, too.

Darry took another glance into the hallway before he nodded. "Yep, I'm sure. No-one else is in sight. Anyway, get some sleep, all right? Breakfast will be ready before we know it."

"Mind lockin' the door?" questioned Dally, who already had his eyes shut again, and his hands were resting underneath his neck.

"Sure," Darry simply shrugged and did what Dally asked him to do. "Now I'll see you at breakfast. Good-night."

"Night, Darry." Johnny and I both said as we got snuggled back underneath the covers of our bed. After that, Darry closed our door behind him, leaving me, Johnny, Dally, and Jocelyn now comfortably tucked in and feeling sleepy all over again. No matter how much I attempted releasing that dark figure from my mind, I knew that I just couldn't. Something wasn't going on right here...but before I saw it coming, I was too comfortable resting warmly besides Johnny, and I was back out like a light. Unfortunately, I should've known that something was hiding underneath the bed.

_Dally's POV_

No matter how much I tried kicking the words out of my head, I was actually struggling with doing so. I never struggled with anything, especially when it came to me forgetting about something that I didn't want to think about. However, this was somehow much more difficult for me to get rid of for some unknown reason. What Kitten told me about Vinny had me having a harder time falling back to sleep at first. If anything bad ever happened to Vinny, I would never forgive myself...why in the hell would Kitten tell me something like _that_? It's as if she was treating me like I was Vinny's _actual _old man or something, but I'm nothing but her step-brother. That's all that she's seen me as since day one, so I could tell that I would always be that so-called bitchy hoodlum who shared half of her blood in her eyes.

Besides, I don't see how things could get worse for mine and Vinny's relationship. When helped run this gang back in New York a few years ago, the leader asked me to go out to "buy" a few Cokes and some more cancer sticks. Of course, I followed his instructions and left, thinking that Vinny would have no trouble staying behind with some of the other guys that were given the nicknames Poison, Thunderbolt, Chains, and Moocher. I was gone for about ten minutes, but when I made my way back into the secret hideout, which was in this abandoned factory, I found Chains and Poison holding Vinny down. Moocher was trying to cut her shirt off with his switchblade, and Thunderbolt was grabbing her in certain places that had me boiling more than lava. After I saw that...let's just say that those guys must've had to start learning how to eat with no muscle control...or even hands. My kid sister was almost raped, so I have no idea what Kitten means by me regretting anything bad happening to her when so much already has.

When I began to stir and my eyes cracked open, I realized that the sun was now shining through the window. Softly groaning, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and gazed at the clock. After I puffed my almost white bangs from dangling in front of my eyes, I saw that it was 8:45; fifteen minutes were left before the wakeup call would ring everybody again.

I blinked the remains of my drowsiness away and I threw the warm covers off from my body. Then I made sure I was as quiet as possible for a change, standing up from my bed and stretching to wake my muscles up. Johnnycake, Cassidy, and even little Jocelyn were still fast asleep; I didn't want to wake any of them up after what happened very early this morning. That, and Jocelyn threw one of her tantrums that had me, Johnny, and Cassidy exhausted as hell by the time she was finished.

I attempted not to smirk at the sight of Cassidy snuggled up to Johnny's chest, and his arms were lazily connected around her back. Their hair was all shagged up, resting all over the place. Quietly, I stepped over to their bed and tucked the covers around them better. After that, I did the same to Jocelyn, cuddling her little teddy bear closer to her while I was at it. I was lucky that I didn't wake any of them up; the three of them had enough of a hard time trying to catch any sleep back at their so-called home with their jackass folks.

Since I still couldn't stop thinking about what Kitten told me, I decided that maybe if I did just _one _small thing for Vinny, I would be able to stop thinking about it once and for all. Lucky for me, I already had something small in mind. Coffee...out of every drink that The County Lodge served, they didn't have coffee...but I remember how much Vinny just loved to have a fresh cup of coffee when we were in New York. There were even times where she would practically _beg _me to buy her one, but she knew that I didn't have any money. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's how she learned how to steal, thanks to me "buying" coffee for her a countless amount of times.

After I combed and greased my hair; and I got dressed in a plain white T-shirt, a pair of worn out; dark blue jeans, my black leather jacket, and a pair of my pointed toe boots, I didn't wait to head out, but not without swiping up my one blade from the nightstand. There was this place that the gang and I passed on the way here that just so happened to sell coffee. It was only about seven minutes away, so I knew that I could handle a simple walk there and back.

By the time I got back to The County Lodge from my little trip, it was five minutes passed 9:00. There was a longer line than I thought there would be when I first got to that coffee place, but all I could do was curse under my breath about it. If we weren't on a vacation, I would've yanked out my switch, but I wasn't in the mood to going to some Kansas jail for winter break.

"Hey, Dally!" Johnny came up to me with his breakfast being held in his hands.

I leaned coolly against the wall and offered him a small smirk. In my free hand, I was holding a decent sized cup of coffee. "Hey, Johnnycake. Where's Jocelyn at?"

Johnny glanced up at the ceiling for a moment. "Still upstairs sleeping. Since she cried a whole lot yesterday night, I figured that she needed some more rest. But what about you? Cassidy and I woke up and realized that you were gone."

I nodded. "Yeah, I had to go out to take a little trip to this coffee house."

"Coffee house? Dally, you hate coffee, right?" Johnny confusedly raised his eyebrows.

"Vinny likes it though," I informed, "so would you mind gettin' her to come over here? I tried motioning her over about five times, but she won't listen."

Johnny waited for a few seconds, just staring at me with complete innocence before he shrugged and nodded. "Sure, Dally."

"Thanks, Johnnycake."

I kept another little smirk away from my face as I watched him head up to Vinny and give her shoulder a tap. It looked like she was talking to Two-Bit about something, but after she felt Johnny gently touch her shoulder, she turned around and locked her eyes on him. Johnny pointed over in my direction, and reading his lips from where I was standing, I could tell he said something like, "Dally wants you." Vinny's eyes instantly narrowed, and she rolled them with annoyance as she stood up from her seat.

I quietly groaned to myself, already having a difficult time believing that I made myself do something small for somebody like her.

"What do you want, Dally?" Vinny uncaringly gazed at her fingernails after she made it over to me.

I rolled my eyes, keeping my forming irritation back the best that I could. "Well good mornin' to you too, sunshine. If it's not too much to cut into your dear breakfast time, I just wanted to give you something."

Vinny cocked an eyebrow and gave me a somewhat hard, but also curious stare. I offered her the cup of coffee, hanging it in front of me, but all Vinny did was look at it. It was as if she's never seen a white plastic cup before in her entire life.

At first, I waited for about five seconds, but after that, my annoyance was only beginning to expand. "Aren't you goin' to take it?"

"What is it?" questioned Vinny.

I narrowed my eyes, as if I was saying, "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"What do you think it is?" I softly, but irritatingly asked. "It's a cup of coffee."

Vinny stubbornly crossed her arms. "I don't even like coffee!"

My eyes widened a little. "Yes you do! I remember that I used to steal it for you nearly every morning when we lived in New York! Now you just have Darry make you a cup when he makes his own!"

I honestly sometimes thought back to how much I liked "buying" coffee for Vinny; I never bothered to say anything though.

Silence formed between the two of us for about five seconds before Vinny said something else.

"You still remember that?"

I hesitantly nodded, and another small piece of silence came until my kid sister touched her chin. She raised her eyebrow again and scanned the cup of coffee.

"...How do I know that you didn't spit in that coffee or something?"

I shook my head a few gentle times and rolled my eyes. Growing more impatience, I joked with, "Would it matter if I did? We have half the same DNA!"

"Dally!" Vinny impatiently growled, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not foolin' around with you! Did you spit in it?"

"Do you _want _me to spit in it?" I began to raise my voice to be even with hers. "And just in case you're wondering, that's a 'no' response to your question, _Valerie_!"

Instantly, Vinny's eyes shot huge, and her face seemed to flash redder than the devil's after she heard me call her by her real name. Her eyes pooled up with rage, just as her lips peeled back to reveal her now grinding teeth. I rolled my eyes, but before I got the chance to tell her that it was just a name, I was greeted with a hard slam across the face. Vinny had punched me right in my cheek, sending my head sharply over in the direction her fist went. Luckily, I didn't fall, but I didn't have a chance to say anything back.

"You know how much I despise my real name, Dallas!" Vinny sourly snarled as she snatched the cup of coffee from my hand. "Now you better think twice before ever saying it again!"

I sharply narrowed my eyes and held my cheek from where I could tell it was starting to turn red. Quietly, I cursed to myself, and I watched as Vinny began to walk away from me.

"You know," I called out to her, harshly stomping my foot a single time. "Kitten is right! You could work on your bitchiness, kid sister!"

"Stay the hell out of my business, big brother!" I didn't need to see her face to know that she just rolled her eyes.

Irritated, I did a face-palm, right before I ran my hand through my hair and hissed plenty of cuss words under my breath. It then wasn't long when I suddenly heard somebody snickering not that far away from me. Confusedly, I raised my eyebrow, but my eyes grew a little whence I heard this male voice greet me with a, "Hey, Dally!"

I snapped my attention over in the direction where I heard the voice, and soon enough, my eyes locked on none other than Tim Shepard. He was smirking like a madman with his arms crossed over his black T-shirt that had a picture of a wolf howling up at the full moon designed on it. Not only that, but that okay broad Jade was standing beside him, smirking a little herself. Her dog sat beside her legs, panting.

"Tim Shepard?" I spoke, hiding my shock the best that I could.

Tim bowed his head. "The one and only, yes."

"What in the hell are you doin' here?"

He stuffed his balled up fists into his worn out jeans pockets and shrugged. "Long story short: I gambled a few more hundred dollars than usual, I didn't know what to do with it, Angela and Curly wanted to get out of Tulsa for awhile, and so I decided to bring 'em here for a vacation."

I touched my chin with my right hand's index finger and decided to study the way that Jade looked. She was dressed in a neon purple T-shirt, a dark brown jean jacket, a dirty pair of tennis shoes, and a faded pair of gray jeans that had some holes around the fabric that covered her thin shins. As for her highlighted hair, it was left like it was yesterday when I first saw her. Flat down with her bangs somewhat dangling in front of her glowing eyes.

"Valerie is still the same smartass that others say she is, huh?" Jade covered her mouth a little and chuckled.

I crossed my arms. "It's _Vinny_," I groaned, "trust me, I'm doin' you one hell of a favor by tellin' you that again! And yeah, she's quite a bitch."

"All little sisters are bitches, man. You better get used to it," Tim groaned and rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed. "We're goin' to be older than them for the rest of our lives, so we got no freaking choice but to suck it up."

Jade suddenly looked uncomfortable, gazing around anywhere but at me or Tim as she bit down on her bottom lip. "Um...I don't mean to interrupt your guys only chat or anything, but you should know that not all kid sisters are bitchy. It just depends on a whole lot that makes them unreasonable, you know?"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Unreasonable my ass! That's a complete understatement when it comes to my Vinny! She never listens to any word I say! It's as if all she hears is a repeating beeping sound whenever I talk to her!"

At the tone of my slightly raising voice, Jadelyn's dog that I believe she told me was named Zeus, began to softly growl at me. Nevertheless, he stopped when Jade shushed him, causing him to pleadingly whimper a bit.

"Dally, Angela does the same to me, but what can we do about it? Nothing!" Tim scowled and shook his head. "Curly and I can only keep 'em boys away from her, but other than that, she goes behind our backs and does whatever the hell she wants! Did I tell you that she started smoking?"

"Only about twenty times since you first caught her lightin' up for the first time." Man, a cigarette sounded damn good to me right then, but I knew that I couldn't risk getting kicked out of the hotel just for one cancer stick.

"At what age did Vinny start smoking?" questioned Tim, curiousness sparkling in his eyes.

I simply shrugged. "On her sixteenth birthday, so only a few months ago. But I've been cuttin' her off lately."

Angela was only fourteen, and Curly was going to be sixteen in another month...I think.

"I don't smoke," Jade suddenly said, still looking strangely uncomfortable about something. "I don't drink either."

Tim raised an eyebrow at her, but then shrugged after a few seconds. "Well, this is was a jolly good conversation and all of that other minding yours manners bull shit, but I think that I should go find Curly and Angela. The last thing I need is them breaking anything, or catching the whole hotel in flames. I'll chat with you guys some other time. See you 'round, Dally."

I nodded. "Later, Tim."

He gave a single wave good-bye before he headed out of the feasting hall.

_Jade's POV_

Sara wasn't a bitch...I loved her with all my heart, and she admired me just as much in return. I mean, sure she threw some tantrums here and there, but every young child did, even as a teenager. At least Tim and Dally still had their little sisters...mine was dead, and we got along perfectly nearly all the time. I missed taking my turn in the morning to wake her up with a tickle fight; she would sometimes be the first one up, so she would bounce up and down on my bed to get me to wake up. My mom would've been making our favorite breakfast, French toast with bacon and eggs on the side. Sara would sometimes try to stick her little fingers in the batter whenever our mother would make pancakes, and I would snicker every time she poked those fingers into her mouth that was shaped into a perfect smile. Our old man would've been flipping through the newspaper with a freshly made cup of coffee resting in front of him, but it wouldn't be long until he would give Sara and I our good morning kisses and ask us how his beautiful daughters slept.

My mother was actually five months pregnant when she and Sara passed away in that car accident. I would've been preparing for a baby brother today if it wasn't for that drunk driver, and my kid sister would still be here, my mom would still be here...my whole life would've been the same, somehow getting better each day. However, everything in my life was taken away because of a dumbass drunk driver. My mom, my kid sister, and my unborn baby brother were up in the sky, and my old man became an alcoholic worker. All I had now was Zeus and the open road.

"You know something, Dally?" I spoke up, breaking the silence with a serious tone. "You might say that Vinny's a bitch...but you know that you love her to death, and you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if somethin' ever happened to her."

To my surprise, Dally rolled his eyes like he didn't even care if Vinny was dead or not.

"Look, I already got that from one of my friends. I don't need to hear it again from some broad that I just met yesterday."

I narrowed my eyes a little. "First off, I'm not a freakin' broad, so you can clean that word you apparently labeled me with out of your mouth!" I hissed, right before I raised my hands up to my shoulders. "Secondly, I guess I'm sorry for restating a fact."

Dally crossed his arms, hesitating as he studied me from my shoes to my head a few times. He then flashed a tiny smirk.

"Oh would you look at that," I joked to myself, but loud enough for Dally to hear me, "he actually _does _smile."

"How the hell do you survive Tulsa with that soft attitude?" Dally smartly asked, mockingly chuckling with his words.

I finally narrowed my eyes completely, and my lips tugged back to reveal my now clenching teeth. "Of course _you _would think I'm soft! You think you're all that, always will be on top of bein' the most troubling jackass around on the bitchy charts, right? And I manage livin' in such a crap hole like Tulsa one way or the other, don't I? Otherwise I wouldn't be here now!"

"Newsflash for you," Dally raised his eyebrows with what surprisingly looked like satisfaction to me. "You're definitely not the only one, so you can drop the badass act right now, Jade."

"It ain't any act, Winston. It's my actual other half." I corrected him, but that only had him rolling his eyes. That had my other half only taking me over even more. "If you don't freaking believe me, then why don't you look up Richard Thomas when we get back to Tulsa? You can discover how difficult my life _actually _is then!"

"Oh, so you want to challenge me, huh?" Dally hissed like a vicious snake. Zeus instantly rose back up on his four paws and got down into his leaping position. Rage was pooling up in his warning dark eyes, and his deadly pointed teeth were now exposed through his curled back lips. Honestly, I would let him take a bite out of Dally to teach him a lesson, but I wasn't going to for two reasons. One, there were other people around, and two, I was a better person than that. I tugged at Zeus' leash and somewhat loudly shushed him, ordering him to stop acting like that unless I signaled him after somebody. Instantly, Zeus' ears dropped, and his eyes flooded with plead for forgiveness as he sat back down beside my legs like he was trained to do. Not being able to help myself, I gave the back of one of his ears a few scratches. In return, he panted and wagged his tail. When I stopped, I gazed back at Dally, who looked bored.

I gazed at my nails, as if I was just as bored as him with our conversation. "Dally, I bet that you always think that you have it harder than everyone. Haven't you ever considered that there are other people who have been going through way worse things since they were first born?"

"Why don't you try _before _you were first born?" snarled Dally, his tone challenging. "My old man was a freakin' player! He was dating no less than five other sluts that he met at some cheap bar when he was married to my mom! Nonetheless, after she told him that she was pregnant with me, he abandoned her just like that! No good-bye, no nothing! All he did was snatch up his car keys, throw down his wedding ring, and leave my mom all own to raise me!"

I instantly became uncomfortable; many flashbacks from my parents and kid sister were coming back to me. We used to be one golden family, having ups and downs from time to time like any other family would. There would be many arguments and orders that Sara and I weren't fond of when it came to our mom and dad. Of course, we would bicker back, causing ourselves to get grounded and have the things we loved to do taken away. Sara wouldn't be able to play with her dolls, and I wouldn't be allowed to go out with my friends. But my parents still loved us, just as much as Sara and I would always love them...until that drunk driver rammed into Sara and my mom when they went shopping for my baby brother. My life was basically shattered completely. No mother, no kid sister, no baby brother, and an 24/7 alcoholic worker for a father. I tried my best in school, but with my slowly dropping grades, I had no idea if I would make it to college since the deaths of my sister, mom, and unborn brother are stuck in my head.

When I didn't say anything, Dally clenched his hands into trembling fists and went on.

"You have _no _idea how hard my mother had to work! All day she worked with me until some babysitter had to come over, and at night, she worked at the Dingo! She spent all of her money on our food, clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, and my education! And for what? I ended up droppin' out from that living hell called school because I didn't understand a damn thing! And when you think that things can't possibly get any worse for me, you're freaking wrong!"

A frown began to tug at the edges of my mouth. Sorrow also flooded my eyes, which was rare to ever happen since I was usually happy-go-lucky all the time.

"Dally-" I attempted taking my turn to talk with a calm voice, but I instantly shut up when Dally shook his head at me. Rage was written all over his now completely red face, and his eyes were sharply narrowed. I should've kept my other side hidden from him; we were on a vacation, so I didn't want to make anybody angry just because my rare to show attitude got the best of me.

"Listen to me, Jade!" Dally ordered, raising his bare hands up to his shoulders.

I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded, hiding my true pain behind the mask for nobody to see. "All right...I'm listening."

Dally sternly nodded. "Well, it wasn't long before my mother met this man one night when she was servin' a few drinks at the Dingo. One thing led to another and she talked to him, slipping him her number on his bill. My father was replaced right before my eyes; my step-father is a no-good piece of shit! He doesn't love me or my kid sisters for that matter! He might've helped create Vinny and Hope, but just because they were made from half of his DNA, he didn't treat 'em like his daughters! At one moment, he would be cursing at us and turning us into live punching bags, and in the next moment, he would be treating us like we weren't even there!"

My eyes grew a little. "...You have another kid sister?"

"More like I _had _another one," responded Dally as he placed his hands on his hips. "Hope was just three years old when she passed away in an auto-wreck. A train rammed right into the car...and my step-dad actually abandoned the car when it got stuck on the tracks...he didn't even attempt saving her like I should've been there to do so."

Tears instantly began to pool up in the corners of my eyes. I tried repeatedly to blink them away, but the air was beginning to sting my eyes to the point where I couldn't help myself to rub them with my now balled up fists. How could a father do such a horrible thing to one of his own daughters? She was just a three-year-old toddler that never got to experience anything in life. No first kiss, no first slow dance, no dating, no marriage, no children of her own...she wouldn't even been able to be there for Dally or Vinny whenever they got married or had their own kids.

I couldn't help myself to picture the train rapidly coming down the tracks. A little girl was sitting in the backseat of her father's car, probably a truck in my imagination. In her father's mouth, a cancer stick was lit, and his heartless eyes remained on the road as the wheels of his truck kept going. The small three-year-old was fiddling around with one of her blocks, happily sucking on her thumb as she glanced around the truck from her butterfly designed booster seat. The loud whistle of the train echoed throughout the crisp air, announcing that it was getting closer. The little girl's didn't care though; he thought that they would make it. He didn't press down on the brake, but kept driving, but he was suddenly jerked forward from his truck suddenly coming from a strange stomp. The jerk was so unexpected that the little girl's block flew right out of her hand, and she began to softly cry from being scared. She couldn't get her block back either since it fell to the floor. Her father was furiously hollering many cuss words at the top of his lungs as he pressed harder down on the pedal, but his wheels wouldn't budge from where they were on the tracks. When he turned his head from hearing the train again, his eyes seemed to bulge out of his head from noticing how fast it was coming. Without another moment of hesitation, the heartless man threw off his seatbelt and leaped out from his vehicle without thinking about his daughter. When he looked back, the train rammed straight into the car with another loud whistle, but it's like in the distance you could hear the little girl crying out, "Daddy!"

My salty tears began to fall down my face. Just picturing something as horrible as that got me straight in the heart, and it didn't help when I thought about how terrible it must've been when God knows who found Mr. Winston's vehicle...and Hope's body. Blood probably covered the seats...her clothes were maybe torn...and every bone in her body must've been turned into dust. Her eyes would've been closed...actually, one would've been half opened, as if she was waiting to ask somebody why her daddy didn't save her. Her brain would've been smashed...she was lifeless...a poor little life that should've still been around today was gone.

I began to softly sniffle, and that's when Dally finally realized that I was crying. He actually _did _know what it was like to lose someone that he very much cared about.

Dally's eyes grew some. "...You're crying?"

"No shit, Sherlock!" I sniffled with complete sorrow. "You know, you're not the only one who lost a kid sister...I actually lost _my _little sister, mother, and unborn brother in a car accident, too. I'm not goin' to lie to you, so if you think that I ever had it easy in the past with me family, you're right. We might've argued here and there, but we never abandoned each other or placed a hurtful finger anywhere. However, when some members of the fuzz stopped by my place when my mom and Sara, my kid sister, went out for baby shopping...my life shattered. My old man began to drink to mask his pain, and it was as if he forgot all 'bout me. That's pretty much why I traveled here to Kansas with Zeus for winter break; I travel a lot now to get away from home."

Dally bit down on his bottom lip and hesitated. "...Why don't you sit with me and my friends? You can get the chance to meet them."

I raised an eyebrow and wiped away the rest of my tears. "Why do you want me to?"

"Never freakin' mind that! Do you want to or not?" Dally rolled his eyes.

I thought about it for a moment, but then grew a tiny grin as I shrugged and nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

_Johnny's POV_

Jade Thomas walked by my side on the seventh floor after we finished our breakfast. Her dog, Zeus, trotted peacefully by her side. Dally introduced each of us to her when we were eating, and I think the whole gang grew to like her right after we locked our eyes on her sweet smile and twinkling eyes. Unfortunately, I think that I was the only one who picked up Vinny's eye rolling and annoyed facial expressions after every word that Jade spoke. Being Vinny Winston, that was very natural when you first met her, considering it took time for her to grow on you. That's actually what she was like when it came to my kid sisters and I when she first laid her eyes on us. It took some time before she actually allowed us to call her a friend. Hopefully Vinny wouldn't treat Jade the way that she treated Kitten; nobody actually knew why they hated each other so much.

By the time breakfast ended, the gang was all split up. Ponyboy was motioned over by that one twin girl Jill, and he was hesitant to go until Darry told him that he was allowed only if him and Soda were able to keep their eyes on the two of them. I think Two-Bit and Kitten headed back to their rooms, and Vinny went outside to smoke a cigarette that she stole from Dally. Everybody knew how much he was trying to cut her off, but Vinny was the type of girl who was hard to stop when it came to anything. The Curtis' stayed in the feasting hall so Jill could chat about God knows what with Ponyboy, and Ashton took Utopia someplace else in the hotel. As for Faith and Mr. Roberts, I had no idea.

I didn't want to wake Jocelyn up, so I decided to just blindly walk around the seventh floor to find something to do. I guess Jade was pretty bored too, considering that she was following me.

"You're not much of a talker, aren't you?" Jade suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"...Talking really isn't my thing," I honestly spoke in such a soft voice.

Jade raised her eyebrows. "How come?"

I hesitated to think about that for a moment. I wanted to give her a direct answer, but no matter how much I tried finding a reason to why I was the shy one in my family, I couldn't come up with anything.

"I don't know," I shrugged and jammed my fists into my pockets. "I guess talking is a certain trait for certain people."

Playfully, Jade nudged me in the arm with her elbow and chuckled. "Then I am guessing I'm one of those chatterboxes to you?"

I cocked an eyebrow at her. Why was she being so nice to me? I wasn't used to anybody being _this _kind unless they got to know me first. I never experienced it...but I guess that it's an okay feeling.

"Everybody seems like a chatterbox to me," I informed, "I doubt that there is anybody in the entire world who is more quiet to me. Even my kid sister talks more than me."

Jade touched her chin. "Your little sister, huh? Wasn't she that dark skinned girl with brunette hair?"

"Mm hm," I nodded and grinned a little, "that's my preteen Cassidy."

"She looks a lot like you!" Jade giggled, which made me think a lot of Soda since she seemed happy-go-lucky.

"...Yeah," I hesitantly raised my shoulders and shrugged again. "We are siblings after all. My other kid sister looks more like me if you ask me, though."

Jade's grin grew. "Wasn't she that little baby that I couldn't help to notice durin' dinner yesterday?"

Chuckling some, I nodded again. "Yep, that's her. My seven-month-old baby sister Jocelyn."

"Aw! I love babies!" Jade shared with complete love in her voice. "How come she wasn't at breakfast today?"

"Long story short," I sighed, "she had a gigantic fussy fit last night, and Dally, Cassidy, and I had a difficult time gettin' her back to sleep. So, I decided to let her sleep in for some more time. I'll get her after our little trip to...where are we goin' again?"

Jade bit down on her bottom lip and shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just followin' you. Hm...I think Mr. Roberts told me when I checked in somethin' about there being a gym on this floor. How about we go there?"

A gym? I've never been to a gym before; they were always too expensive for greasers to attend back in Tulsa. If a greaser wanted to work out, they would have to hop fences, lift full trashcans, and start fights. I usually stuck to the monkey-bars back at the park, but I honestly always wondered what a gym looked like.

"Why not? Let's go."

The rest of the walk to the gym was silent. Since Jade and I had no idea how to get there, we just kept walking around the seventh floor together until we saw the two glass doors. I don't think Jade and I were planning to work out, but we were just bored to the point where we had no idea what to do. When we made it to the clear glass doors, we instantly knew that we made it to the gym. All kinds of different exercise equipment was spread around; treadmills were lined up in a row, and different colored yoga balls were sitting in different baskets. There were some yoga matts too, along with automatic bikes spread in a different row far along the opposite side of the gym from the treadmills. Weights and scales were closest to the light green painted walls, and lastly...Jade and I noticed that there was somebody already in there.

Some pale boy with black hair and blonde highlights was breathing heavily, jogging on the treadmill in a pair of baggy black pants; and a mid-sleeved, baggy, white shirt. I think that I actually saw him cutting up and poking at his breakfast yesterday morning, but he wasn't down there today.

Jade confusedly scratched the back of her head. "Who is he? God...he's thin..."

I hesitated before shrugging. "I saw him yesterday, but I didn't catch his name or anythin' like that."

"Why wasn't he at breakfast?"

I shrugged again. "I'm not sure...but lets just talk to him and see."

Jade grinned and nodded with agreement, right before she pushed the door open and allowed me to go in first. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention to how Zeus' leash was in my way, and before Jade and I had any time to notice, I lost my balance and fell straight to the light wooden floor. Whoever the pale guy was, he must've noticed, because he instantly slowed his jogging down to be walk. His eyes were huge, staring at me as Jade embarrassedly turned just as red as me.

"I'm so sorry, Johnny!" Jade apologized and held her hand down, offering for me to take it.

"Hey!" The pale boy called out from the treadmill, his voice full of concern. "Are you alright?"

I quietly moaned to myself as I took Jade's hand, and she helped me back up onto my feet. That floor would really leave a mark on somebody; that's all that I could thing as I rubbed one of my ribs. I looked at Jade for a moment, causing her to embarrassedly bite down on her free hand's thumbnail. Then I gazed over at the pale boy...man, Jade was right...he _was _thin, and I think that he was paler than that Ashton Fisher.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I nodded, shrugging my sore rib off like the fall never happened. So much for a golden first impression...

The boy grew a small grin, and he started the treadmill to make his jog come back. "Good," He sounded relieved, so Jade and I could tell that he was friendly. "My name is Spencer Connors. I'm here with my friend Ana for winter break."

I hid my confusion the best that I could as I stared all around the gym, trying to see if I could spot anybody else. Nonetheless, Jade, Zeus, and I were the only ones who were in the gym with this Spencer. If he was there with a friend, then where was this Ana?

Jade offered Spencer a smile. "Nice to meet you, Spencer Connors! I'm Jadelyn Thomas, but everybody calls me Jade! And this is my dog, Zeus."

Zeus then barked a single time and wagged his tail, as if he was greeting Spencer.

My shyness and concern was getting the best of me, but I forced myself to speak anyway. "And I'm Jonathan Cade, but my nickname is Johnnycake, and everyone sticks to callin' me Johnny for short."

"Well," Spencer took in a deep breath and let it out. He looked really tired, but he was still forcing himself to jog on the treadmill. "It's nice to meet you."

Jade and I exchanged our facial expressions for a couple of seconds before we gazed back at Spencer. Silence filled the gym, other than the sound of the single treadmill and Spencer's jogging footsteps. Nevertheless, after about another fifteen-to-twenty seconds, Spencer grasped another giant breath and stopped the treadmill to get his breathing back on track.

"Are you sure you should be working out, Spencer? You look...really sick," Jade said with worry glowing in her eyes, but Spencer shook his head at her.

"No, I'm fine. Trust me, I'm not sick," He assured as he snatched up a bottle of water and took down a big gulp, followed by a bunch more slurps.

I confusedly raised an eyebrow. "Then how come you weren't downstairs for breakfast? I don't think that I saw you at lunch or dinner either."

"Ah," Spencer sighed after he swallowed what was in his mouth. "I wasn't hungry...I have a very strong stomach, so I can go awhile without food."

I didn't know if it was because of Spencer being in the gym or by the way he looked, but I had a feeling that that wasn't the case. How could somebody not eat like that unless they were bein' held against their will?

"Say, Johnny Cade," Spencer suddenly addressed me, "would you mind turnin' that TV on? I think I could use some while I continue my usual morning workout."

I bit down on my bottom lip and shrugged. "Uh...sure?"

Spencer gave me a weak grin before he took another sip from his bottle of water. I then walked over to the TV that Spencer was speaking off and pressed the "ON/OFF" button. Just then, a news reporter popped up, followed the words in big red letters, "Breaking News!"

"The news channel?" Spencer rolled his eyes with boredom. "Can you turn it to somethin' more interesting, please?"

I touched my chin, suddenly getting this feeling in the pit of my stomach to keep the channel where it was. Concernedly, I narrowed my eyes. "Um...in a minute, okay, Spencer? I want to see this."

In return, all I got from him was silence, so the gym was now only full of this blonde female reporter's voice as she began to speak into her microphone. She looked extremely worried and uncomfortable, and tears were overflowing in her dark eyes that reminded me a lot of dark pieces of melting chocolate.

"This just in, the escaped mental patients struck again! Fifteen-year-old Jackie Robins, sixteen-year-old Robbie Stanford, and eighteen-year-old Kat Michael were recently found dead just last night! Jackie was found stabbed repeatedly in the library shortly after she told her parents that she was going there to study. As for Kat, her uncle found her all cut up and hanging in her bedroom closet, and lastly, Robbie was discovered at his friend, Quinn Archer's house. Quinn has been recently locked up in contempt, just in case she was somehow involved in Robbie's death. Now, each death was caused by a different type of weapon, and the police are investigating as much as possible to bring these escaped mental patients back to where they belong! Unfortunately, eleven-year-old Lucy Riley, five-month-old Nathan Rivers, six-year-old Travis Rowan, and twelve-year-old Alyssa Miles have recently went missing from their homes not long before six and seven this morning."

I could've sworn that the color instantly drained from my skin, and a startled yelp rang out from my lips.

"Did she just say..." Spencer gulped with a mixture of nervousness and uncertainty. "There are escaped mental patients on the lose? And that three different were found _killed_ just last night? _And _then there's those four younger kids who were recently _kidnapped_?"

Jade scratched the back of her neck. "Okay, let's just calm down...I mean, we're not even sure where those escaped mental patients are."

"As for the police," The blonde female reporter went on speaking. "They are suspecting that these murderous kidnappers are mainly trying to kill just teenagers and some adults, too. As for infants, toddlers, and kids, the cops have reported that the mental patients may only be trying to use them for bait so they can lure who they're really after to them. Ever since these mental patients escaped, they've seemed to be kidnapping and killing mainly whoever is around the hotel, The County Lodge. Remember once again, ladies and gentlemen, contact the police at anytime you have the slightest clue where any of these escaped mental patients might be. We wouldn't want anymore of our viewers, younger or older to go missing or risk their lives getting taken away. I'm Molly Fryer, new reporter of Good Morning Kansas...back to you, Ryan."

My heart must've froze, because my sharp breath instantly got caught in my throat. Escaped mental patients are on the lose around The County Lodge, and they're kidnapping and even murdering people for no reason!

Cassidy's voice began to ring in my head about that shadowy figure that she's been seeing. Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy even talked this morning over breakfast about how Soda's DX cap suddenly went missing, but Tim found it in the hallway not long after he and Curly woke up to somebody knocking at their door. As for Kitten, she explained that she and Vinny got this strange phone call, and whoever it was only breathed into the phone like in one of those horror films. If all of this has happened...and we couldn't find out any exact explanation...could it possibly be because...

My eyes seemed to instantly bulge out of my head. What if all of this strange stuff was happening because those escaped mental patients _were _in the hotel?

Quickly, I bashed myself around and bolted away like my life depended on it.

"Johnnycake!" Jade called out for me with absolute worry and concern mixed in her voice.

"Where are you going?" Spencer then hollered, just as I forced the glass doors open.

"To my room! I need to get my baby sister!"

Without waiting another second, I dashed out of the gym, leaving Spencer, Zeus, and Jade behind. My eyes were huge, already growing watery from my fear. That news reporter said that these mental patients were murderous kidnappers, and after all of these strange things that have been happening since the gang and I made it to The County Lodge...it all seemed to fit into place. But why were these mental patients apparently targeting the gang and I? What did we ever do? It seemed as if all I could hear was the noise of my rapidly racing heart, and my legs were going as fast as they could. I don't think that I've ever ran so much before in my entire life, not even during a rumble. My baby sister was all by herself with some escaped mental patients on the lose!

When I met a different corner of the next hallway, I twisted around to the point where my shoes slid against the wooden floor. Thankfully, I stopped myself from banging into the wall, and I kept running until I finally made it back to mine, Cassidy, Dally, and Jocelyn's room. I attempted to turn the doorknob, but I just remembered that the door was locked, and Dally had the key. Nevertheless, I wasn't letting something like that get in my way on getting my baby sister and protecting her, along with Cassidy. At the thought of somebody trying to harm my Jocelyn, my eyes narrowed and began to pool up with rare anger. I tightly clenched my hands into fists as I stepped back from the door, and after waiting a few more seconds to plant my feet, I bolted forward and banged hard. My arm came in contact with the door, surprisingly slamming it hard enough for it to unlock and bam loudly into the wall. I fell and hit the floor with a loud _thud_, but that didn't stop me from quickly getting back up on my feet.

My eyes began to pool up with my fear and nervousness again as they locked on the crib.

"Jocelyn!" I practically called out at the top of my lungs, but when I dashed over to the wooden crib to snatch her up, it seemed like I just entered one of my worse nightmares...Jocelyn was missing.

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**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! XD**

**I know, this chapter was _very _long! I think this will be as long as the chapters will get! **

**I hope that this was worth the wait! :)**

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	9. The Truth is Out

**A/N: Another chapter for you all! Thank you so much to all of those who reviewed my previous chapter, and I give them shout outs: nadine1231966, faithfreedom, radgreasers, PinkAmy, arlena. fernell,and Artista321! Thanks a bunch for reviewing! :) **

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**Please review and enjoy the next chapter! :D :)**

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_Johnny's POV_

I could've sworn that it felt like somebody just popped into my chest, gripped a rough hold on my heart, and just yanked it out without any cares. By every passing second with me just staring over the wooden crib, I kept hoping to death that I was having a terrifying nightmare. However, no matter how many times I clenched my eyes shut and blinked them back open, I couldn't wake up. This wasn't a dream...this was a horrifying reality. The gang and I drove all this way to escape all of the terrors of Tulsa, but instead, it all seemed to come chasing after us. Escaped mental patients who were turning themselves into murderous kidnappers were after the gang, myself, and possibly the rest of the guests staying at The County Lodge!

My baby sister was missing; she must've got kidnapped by one of the escaped mental patients. I wiped my eyes clear from my hot, salty tears about a million times when hoping that there was possibly another explanation to why Jocelyn was suddenly gone. However, there wasn't. Nobody else from the gang could've came to get her without me knowing, and it's not like they could get into our room since Dally had the key. Jocelyn _was _taken.

I began to tremble, growing paler by the minute. Ever since Jocelyn took in her first breath of life, I've vowed to always love and take care of her, just like I promised to do when Cassidy was born. Unfortunately, I had no idea who these escaped mental patients were, nor did I understand what they would do in order to kidnap and kill who they were truly after. The news reporter said that the fuzz is thinking that these escaped psychopaths only kidnap children, babies, and toddlers for bait...they really wanted to kill teenagers and adults. But why? Why did these twisted mental patients targeting the gang and I, and apparently one of them keep showing themselves only around...

Instantly, my red-rimmed eyes seemed to bulge out of my head as I began to go back and forth from thinking about Jocelyn, to Cassidy. Cassidy was twelve, a preteen...but I had no idea at what age range these mental patients would've considered her. Would they decide to kidnap her as a child...or spill her innocent blood to pass her for a teenager? Her birthday isn't until April, so she obviously would still be a preteen all throughout this winter break. I don't have the slightest idea how these escaped mental patients see things though.

So all those times Cassidy could've sworn she saw the same dark figure from the road...she wasn't just dreaming or seeing things. Darry _was _wrong about this being just homesickness, and that shadowy figure wasn't just in our heads. The gang and I might've been hungry, still somewhat drowsy from recently waking up, and it was too dark to see things clearly, but now I knew for sure that dark figure was real...and it, along with possibly many others, meant business. I had the heartbreaking proof; my baby sister was missing.

I had to get her back, and _nothing _stands in my way when it comes to me protecting my kid sisters. No matter how hard and terrifying this was going to be, I understood that I had to try my hardest to break away from my jumpiness and do anything to track Jocelyn down. Even though my fear and shyness has been stuck to me since the first beat of my heart, I had no choice. I wanted my baby sister back, safe and sound, and in order to do that, the gang and I would have to find her before those escaped mental patients attempted to strike again.

Without allowing another moment to slip through my fingers, I tried to break out of my tearful gaze at the now empty crib. Another terrified jolt sparked up my spine, causing me to howl loudly in misery as more tears pooled down my face. No matter how much I tried turning myself around and running off to get help, I felt like my feet were nailed to the floor. This is all my fault! This is all my _freaking _damn fault! If I actually listened to Cassidy, Jocelyn wouldn't have gotten kidnapped, and I would've found a way to convince the gang to pack up and leave The County Lodge for good. However, it was too late now.

"Johnnycake?" I heard the sound of Kitten's voice, somewhat exclaiming from the hallway. She sounded startled, nervous, and caring all in one. I tried to get some words to come out from my lips, but all I could do was continue to shed tears like a waterfall. Each letter of any word I wanted to attempt saying was scattered all around in my throat, heavily jammed and too hard to cough out.

I then picked up the sound of what I thought was another door opening up.

"Johnny? Is that you?" Two-Bit's voice echoed from across the hall from mine, Jocelyn, Cassidy, and Dally's room. "Are you alright? What's goin' on?"

I continued to wickedly shake, too scared and caught in a messy net of painful misery. It was as if everlasting tape was stuck over my mouth, and all I could do was hope that my salty tears would leak to the point where the stickiness would cave, and the tape would come off.

I quietly breathed heavily and rapidly, trying to find my words and get them out clearly. Nonetheless, before I could bother to get even a small squeak out, I heard the sound of rushing footsteps trotting down, getting closer to my open door.

"Kit-Cat, what's goin' on?" Two-Bit confusedly asked, but she didn't answer. Before I knew it, I heard another pair of footsteps approaching my door. I closed my red-rimmed eyes and prepared myself for what was about to happen.

"Oh my god!" Kitten gasped, and I knew that she finally noticed me in complete tears, making my gigantic bawl baby side expose. Slowly, I forced myself to crack my eyes back open, noticing how my vision kept going from clear to blurry from my steaming tears. Sniffling and still trembling, I felt the warmth of my salty tears stroke down my cheeks. Unfortunately, that only made me feel worse.

Two-!Bit's eyes shot wide after they locked on me. "Johnnycake! What happened?"

I couldn't stop trembling; all I could do was continue to cry as I thought about who had Jocelyn, and what could've possibly been happening to her right then.

Kitten quickly scampered over to me and collapsed down onto her knees. She then connected her arms around me, allowing my head to rest on her shoulder. With her head leaning gently against mine, she caringly stroke my hair like I would do to Cassidy.

"Johnny, what's wrong?" Kitten softly and more caringly questioned.

I opened my mouth, but all I could do was wait until I took in a sharp breath. It was as if whoever took Jocelyn took my voice with them.

Two-Bit calmly started his way into the room, being slow for a change.

Kitten quietly hushed me. "It's okay, Johnnycake...shush, it's all right...let it out, let it out."

"N-No! I-It's not o-okay!" I finally found my voice, somewhat exclaiming it through my salty tears.

Kitten began to look half confused, but yet half understanding. "What are you talkin' about, Johnny? We've talked about this before. Real men cry, even Dally like he did when-"

"I-I'm not t-talking about m-my crying!" I was too fed up on my fear and sorrow that I didn't pay any attention to how I was raising my voice. A sigh instantly seeped out of my mouth when I realized how Kitten was trying to hide a somewhat hurt expression. "I-I'm sorry, Kitty Cat..." I sniffled, wiping away some of my tears, "I'm j-just t-too scared t-to think."

"What are you-" Two-Bit began to ask something, but he shut himself up when he peered into the wooden crib. His eyes grew again, but this time with confusion, and he cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, Johnnycake...where's little Joce at?"

When Two-Bit not only bothered to question about Jocelyn, but he used her nickname that I gave her when she was born, another loud moan of painful sorrow escaped from my mouth. More steaming tears drenched down my now red face, and I felt Kitten's arms caringly squeeze me tighter.

"Johnnycake..." Kitten's voice was now quiet, full of shock, "are you sayin' that...Jocelyn is-"

"Missing?" Two-Bit finished her question, his tone exposing just as much shock.

Again, I couldn't help myself to let out a howl of misery, and I hesitantly nodded my head.

"Oh my god..." Two-Bit gulped down a giant breath of air. He was probably checking to see if he was stuck in some horrifying nightmare himself, but he couldn't wake up from reality.

"Somebody took Jocelyn? As in, a kidnapper?" asked Kitten, her eyebrows raised with concern.

"Yes! There are escaped mental patients on the lose!" I came out and said what I knew needed to be known.

I heard Kitten squeak a little as she grasped a sharp breath. When I then gazed at Two-Bit, I noticed that he looked sick to his stomach, which was very rare. His wide and goofy smile was never there then, pulled down, and his eyes that were usually shining off happiness and laughter were now huge, swarming with much more shock.

"What?" Kitten looked just as startled as Two-Bit. Again, that was completely rare. "Are you sure, Johnnycake? How do you know?"

"I d-do know f-for sure," I sniffled and nodded, "I just s-saw it on t-the news channel...these e-escaped mental p-patients are kidnapping b-babies, t-toddlers, and c-children so they can l-lure in w-who they're r-really after...t-teenagers a-and adults. N-Not o-only that, b-but these m-mental p-patients want to _kill _who t-they're really after."

"Are you saying that an escaped mental patient kidnapped Jocelyn for bait?" Two-Bit asked, looking sicker.

I regretfully nodded. "Y-Yeah...and these m-mental patients a-are said to t-take their v-victims around h-here..._The C-County Lodge_!"

Kitten brushed my bangs away from dangling right in front of my eyes. Trying to remain calm, she asked, "Are you sure, Johnny?"

"Yes, I'm positive!" I replied. "How else could Jocelyn possibly be missing? Man, we got to find her! We just _got _to! She's one of my baby sisters!"

"Johnnycake, don't worry," I could tell by the sound of Two-Bit's voice that he was trying his hardest to remain calm, too. "We're goin' to find little Joce no matter how long or what it exactly takes. But why didn't Mr. Roberts speak a word to us about these escaped mental patients?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he didn't know?"

"I don't think that's possible, Johnnycake," Kitten scratched her chin, "I mean, Mr. Roberts owns this hotel and he lives here in Kansas. I'm pretty sure that he would inform any of his guests about some escaped mental patients runnin' freely around here."

Two-Bit confusedly raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't he bother to tell us when we checked in? Or how about when Superman was making our reservations over the phone back in Tulsa?"

I rolled my tearful eyes around, wiping away as many of my tears as I could. Kitten and Two-Bit did have a good point...why wouldn't Mr. Roberts tell us something that was _this _important? Maybe he didn't believe that the news reports were correct? Or he thought that the escaped mental patients wouldn't bother coming to his hotel? Whatever the answer was though, he should've told the gang and I. I swear, if we somehow found out and knew about the escaped mental patients before we left Tulsa, we would've found something else to do over winter break. I couldn't care less if we were all trapped back at the Curtis'; better being there than being in some hotel that had escaped mental patients lurking around.

"Come on, Johnnycake," Kitten's soft voice shattered my thoughts, and she tugged at my arm. My legs were still a bit shaky from my strong sorrow, so I had to balance myself when Kitten first helped me up from the floor.

"Where are we going?" I sniffled as I cleaned away the remains of my salty tears from my bright red face and red-rimmed eyes.

Kitten placed her hands on her hips. "Downstairs, back to the feasting hall. We need to get everybody gathered so we can tell them everything, and then we can start looking for Jocelyn. Don't worry, Johnnycake...we're goin' to find her and get her back, safe and sound."

I nodded, trying my best to find my own confidence like Kitten always had stored up inside of her. What I found was better than nothing. We _were _going to find my baby sister...we just _had _to...she's so small and innocent, and she has her whole life ahead of her.

Two-Bit gave my shoulder a clap. "Let's go, Johnnycake. We'll find little Joce after we tell everyone else what's _really _going on here."

Again, I nodded. How else could all of these strange encounters make any sense? The pale hand I saw when first arriving through the window, the knocking and doorknobs jiggling, that dark figure that Cassidy kept seeing since the first night...it was all connected. The escaped mental patients _had _to be here...and now it was our job to remain as safe as possible, and not to mention that the gang and I _have _to find Jocelyn. I don't care if it takes the entire winter break or even over it! I am _not _leaving Kansas without my own baby sister!

Whoever these escaped mental patients were, they meant business. That's all that I could really think about when Two-Bit and Kitten had to actually help me leave mine, Jocelyn, Dally, and Cassidy's room. I was still pretty rattled up that I seemed to couldn't leave the room where Jocelyn was taken. Nevertheless, Kitten and Two-Bit changed that, gently grasping my arms and standing by my sides as they led me after them.

I was _not _going to allow these mental patients to get away with this. I was scared to a whole new level, but when somebody messes with someone else who I very much care about, I mean just as much business as they apparently do.

_Steve's POV_

I took in a deep drag of my recently lit cigarette, not caring to look around for any "No Smoking" signs. I did catch Mr. Roberts staring at me with big eyes, but he looked more surprised than anybody would guess some hotel owner would react towards one of their guest's smoking. I was a greaser...cigarettes were practically built in to us, except if you were Darry Curtis, Kitten Andrews, or Cassidy and Jocelyn Cade. Johnny was actually trying to quit though.

I sat between Soda and Dally, continuing to take in deep breaths of my cigarette as I kept looking at Johnny. He was sitting across from me, Cassidy sitting on one side of him, and Kitten was sitting on his other side. I didn't have the slightest clue as to why Johnnycake, Two-Bit, and Kitten got everyone in the entire hotel together at a table in the feasting hall, but it honestly made me feel a little sick to my stomach. By the looks of Johnny's fading red face and slimly red-rimmed eyes, I could tell that he had been previously crying. He must've been bursting like a waterfall by what I could tell, but why? I don't think I've ever seen Johnny bawl so much; even when his old man whipped him with a belt, or when his mom cursed and kicked him and his kid sisters out, Johnny never cried like _that_. Hm...plenty of strange things_ have_ been going on ever since the gang and I made it to The County Lodge.

I don't know what could possibly drive somebody into bawling so much. There were many times when my mom would stand back and shed her own tears over my old man. Cheap mascara would be drenching down her frail cheeks, and her dark blue eyes were red-rimmed, salted in plenty of steaming tears. My mother's eyes used to swarm day by day with everlasting life and happiness, but after my old man turned into a complete ass, her eyes drowned in pain and sorrow. There were times when my old man would even take some swats at her; I remember when I was probably about five, all the way until I turned ten, I would hear through my parents bedroom door...it sounded a lot like the bed was squeaking repeatedly, and my mom would be begging my dad to stop. Back then, I didn't have the slightest idea over what my father was doing to my mom, but now I understand completely...and I have such a damn difficult time believing that I'm related to him. My old man even got my mother pregnant again, and if it wasn't for my dad being such a freaking ass, I would have a little brother today. My dad ended up pushing my mom down the stairs during one of his drunk tantrums...she lost my baby brother instantly.

I would go to the lot and use newspapers as blankets whenever I didn't want to bug the Curtis' about my old man cursing at me and kicking me out again. During the hot sun, chilly rain, freezing snow, dangerous hail...no matter what the weather was, there were times where I would just lay at the lot to be by myself and catch up on a few cigarettes. Nonetheless, even through my twisted life so far, I never shed a single tear that I recall of. I never even cried when Dally was almost shot by the fuzz, or when Ponyboy told us that Johnny passed away when that was actually a true mistake. I just locked myself up and refused to talk to anybody, even Soda, for a while.

I took in another deep drag of my cigarette and held in the smoke for a few seconds.

For some reason, Johnny stood up from his seat and began to pace. Biting down on his thumbnail, I could tell that he was trying not to cry anymore.

I released my drag.

"You know," Mr. Roberts suddenly spoke up, shattering the quietness. "You'll get sick if you smoke so much. That stuff will turn your lungs into a chimney."

I knew that he was talking to me, but I didn't care to say anything back. Instead, I decided to put my cancer stick out, not wanting to be the center of attention.

"We're greasers," stated Dally with his usual cool tone. "I don't know 'bout you and any other Kansas folks, but most of us Tulsa greasers consider smokin' tuff."

"It's not," Mr. Roberts shook his head, "I hate to be the burden of bad news, but it _can _kill you."

At the words 'kill you,' I could've sworn that Johnny's eyes looked as if they were going to bulge right out of his head. He seemed to grow pale, as if he was about to throw up, and his breathing picked up his pace. He was now frozen in his footsteps, looking like he just came intact with a killer.

"We're on vacation," Darry reminded, "let's just get through our winter break without any disaster thoughts like _that_, please."

Kitten bit down on her bottom lip and nibbled at it for a moment. Then she sighed and shook her head a few soft times. "I'm afraid that we'll have to go through that no matter what, Darry."

Silence surrounded the table, and everybody began to confusedly gaze around the table at each other. Other than Ashton, who was kicking back "coolly" with his hands in his pockets and feet up on the table, everyone else looked as concerned as could be. This other very pale boy with dark brown hair and blonde highlights was refusing to look at anyone; his dark green eyes wouldn't leave his lap. I don't know if it's my past coming back to me or that news report that I saw not long ago at all, but there was this feeling in the middle of my stomach. It was like something was trying to tell me that there was something wrong with that really pale and thin boy. Nonetheless, I didn't bother to pay any attention to that right then; I was more concerned over what Kitten just said.

"What do you mean by that, Kitty Cat?" Darry sat up straight in his chair and raised his eyebrows.

"What I mean is..." Kitten's mouth stayed slimly open, looking like she was trying to say more, but she couldn't get another word out.

Johnny began to slowly pace again; his breathing was quit, but rapid and hearable in the almost vacant feasting hall.

"Johnnycake," A rare frown slipped across Kitten's face, and she stood up from her chair. "Don't worry, Johnnycake...I told you that we're goin' to find her no matter what." She wrapped her arms around Johnny from behind, getting him to stop in his tracks again. Johnny's tears began to slowly trace down his face, and his sniffling began to escape too.

"Find her?" Cassidy's eyes grew a little, her voice full of beginners shock. "What does Kitten mean by that, Johnny?"

Two-Bit instantly stood up from where he was sitting, between Vinny and Ponyboy. "Kitten, Johnnycake, and I just recently found out some horribly shocking news."

I slowly studied everybody's facial expressions again; everyone still looked pretty concerned.

"Which is what exactly, Mathews?" I shrugged, deciding to be the one to ask since nobody else looked like they were ready to speak yet.

A rare frown plastered across Two-Bit's face, too.

"Well," Two-Bit sighed, "Johnnycake was just so happening to be watching the news channel..."

At the words 'news channel,' the newcomer Jadelyn and the really pale boy seemed to grow more nervous themselves. The pale boy began to pick at his bottom lip, and Jade started to tighten her grip on her dog, Zeus' leash.

"And Johnny informed Two-Bit and I...when we found him bawling his heart out on the floor in his, Dally, Jocelyn, and Cassidy's room..." Kitten began to speak some more. The concern was instantly expanding on the inside and out with everyone, except Ashton.

"There are escaped mental patients on the lose," Two-Bit came right out and stated the problem, "and Johnnycake, Kitten, and I believe that they're here...because Jocelyn is missing."

My eyes went huge, and I could've sworn that I felt my heart drop in my chest without another pump.

"Jocelyn is _what_?" Dally's voice revealed how protective he was of the Cade's.

"Missing?" Came Darry's tone shortly after.

Looking regretful, Johnny hesitantly nodded his head as more salty tears made their ways down his face. "I bolted back to get her like the devil was comin' after me...but when I looked in the crib...she was gone..." Johnny nearly began to squeak from his voice softening so much.

I nervously bit down on my thumbnail and began to think heavily about that news report that I didn't bother to tell anybody about. Could Johnny, Kitten, and even Two-Bit be right about this? No...this just couldn't be happening...

"Johnnycake, are you sure she was really gone? Is it possible that she could've climbed out of the crib and hid somewhere in the room?" Ponyboy questioned.

"No, Pony," sniffled Johnny, "Jocelyn is only seven months, she can't even crawl yet. One or more of these escaped mental patients must've kidnapped her; there's no other explanation. None of you could've got into mine, Dally, Cassidy, and Jocelyn's room, and even if you could've, you would've told me that you were goin' to get her."

Vinny hid her face behind her cuffed hands, and I could've sworn that I heard her mumbling every word in the book to herself.

"That all makes sense," Soda's eyes were now gigantic, "with all of the strange experiences that we've been goin' through since we got here...it wouldn't surprise me if there actually _were _other people here. _Dangerous _people." He was surprisingly sounding a whole lot softer for someone who was afraid. I haven't ever heard his voice _that _quiet before since the night after his parents died in that auto-wreck incident.

"But why would some escaped mental patients want to come after us?" Vinny softly, but angrily asked, and a string of cuss words followed under her breath.

"Because they want to kidnap kids, babies, and toddlers in order to lure in who they _really _want to kill...teenagers and adults. The fuzz is even sayin' that that's most likely what's going on because none of the younger kidnapped victims have been murdered." Johnny informed as he wiped away as many of his tears as he could.

Darry's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head from shock. "Are you sure about all of that, Johnny?"

Eagerly, the oldest Cade nodded, but just as he opened his mouth to say something, the vampire looking Ashton beat him to it.

"Jonathan, is it?" Ashton spoke as a phony grin spread widely across his face. I knew by heart whenever somebody was pulling a face or telling a lie; I guess I picked it all up over the years from Dally and Vinny.

Johnny hesitated, staring at the pale as hell Ashton with salty rimmed eyes and quietly panting to himself.

Ashton didn't turn his head, but moved his eyes left to right a few times, as if he was taking in the new silence and studying everybody else that was in the room.

Silently, I rose my cigarette back up to my lips, but just as I was about to take in another soft drag, something else caught my attention. From the slim peeking at the corner of my eye, I could've sworn that Utopia looked as if she was about to throw her head down and burst into tears. I don't think that I've ever saw somebody who seemed _that _scared or nervous or even both in my entire life, and I was there in the hospital with my mother when she was informed that she had a miscarriage. Utopia looked just like I did that day when I was fearfully waiting in the waiting room to see my mom and hear about my baby brother. Though, Utopia looked sicker; I didn't know if this whole escaped mental patients thing was getting to my head or what, but I couldn't help this strange feeling that was suddenly eating away at the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong with Utopia, and I had this other feeling that it somehow involved Ashton.

"Well," Ashton's somewhat stern voice shattered the silence. His eyes didn't leave Johnny. "Is that your name or not?"

"It is," Johnny finally nodded, "but just call me Johnny for short."

Another phony smile wiped across Ashton's face. "Ah, Johnny," He seemed to be uncaringly chuckling his words. "I'm afraid that you're overreacting to all of this."

Utopia quickly sat up straight in her chair and gazed nervously at her so-called boyfriend. How in the hell did a guy like Ashton get such a gal like Utopia?

"Ashton-" Utopia attempted to speak up, her tone sounding like it was flooding with plead.

"Excuse me, but I'm not overreacting!" Johnny cut Utopia off, staring with a mixture of shock and remaining pain in his eyes.

"Course you are," Ashton's "smile" began to form into this smirk. "I mean, do you honestly believe that we're all staying in some hotel where some so-called escaped mental patients are kidnapping and killing their freakin' victims?"

Johnny threw his arms over his chest and tried to stop shedding his hot tears, but he was failing miserably. "I saw it on the news, didn't I?"

Dally narrowed his eyes at the vampire looking teenager. "Why don't you shut the hell up? Johnnycake would never freakin' lie about somethin' like this!"

Cassidy's eyes grew a little at the furious tone of Dally's voice, but what really surprised me was that she didn't seem to care in just a matter of a few passing seconds. Actually, Cassidy looked pretty damn ticked about something all of the sudden if you ask me. Was it possibly because Ashton was saying that Johnny, her older brother, was overreacting about their baby sister missing? No, that couldn't have been it; Cassidy would stormed up from her seat and said something by now. What could've possibly rattled her cage like that?

"The news channel is nothin' but shit." Ashton's smirk vanished from his face as he uncaringly rolled his eyes. "Other than those models in the magazines, everything that the media says and does is just to get massive freakin' loads of ratings."

"And worrying their viewers about some escaped mental patients will do that?" challenged Vinny, her eyes warningly narrowed. "They'll be too damn scared to grab the freaking remote!"

Ashton shrugged. "Hey, how should I know what goes on in all of those poisoned minds of theirs? I ain't a part of the media, but I can sense a lie from a mile away. The news channel, newspapers, magazines, and all of that freakin' bull is all for ratings."

"Ash-" Again, Utopia tried talking, but like before, she was cut off.

"If there aren't any escaped mental patients here, how do you explain my baby sister suddenly not in that crib anymore?" Johnny questioned, raising his voice only a little.

"How in the bloody hell should I know?" Ashton's lips tugged back to reveal his now grinding teeth. "I don't have the slightest damn clue where that sibling of yours could've went, but what I _do _know by heart is that you should cut the crap with these murderous kidnappers. I'm sure that it'll be a damn cold day in hell when some psychotic mental patients decide to come to this hotel when there clearly isn't many people staying here."

"You have a heart?" Curly raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty damn difficult to notice."

I usually wasn't such a gigantic ray of sunshine towards the Shepard's, considering that I actually didn't like them that much. When the rest of the gang and I found out from Dally and Darry that Tim, Angela, and Curly were the three other guests from Tulsa, I instantly thought that this vacation was going to be a world record for a massive disaster. Though, I must admit that I couldn't help myself to grow a smirk and chuckle softly at Curly's words.

Ashton shot Curly a death mock stare.

"Ashton, please-" Utopia wouldn't stop trying to get her voice heard, but it was like she was invisible to Ashton.

"Shut it, clown!" Ashton hissed at Curly, going on with nearly every word in the book under his breath.

Curly rolled his eyes. "I've been called worse by my own brother."

Ashton's teeth began to grind harder, and he pointed one of his fingers sharply at Curly. "Listen you little bi-"

"Please, Ashton, can you just stop? Just stop it and listen to what I have to say, would you? Please! I'd like to be heard out also!" Utopia practically exclaimed at the top of her lungs this time. By the sound of her voice, it was like she was about to break down into a waterfall of tears, but not a single drop of water was in either of her eyes.

Everybody froze, full attention now on the pretty brunette girl as she nervously bit down on her thumbnail. Complete quietness met the feasting hall again, but it wasn't long before Utopia began to talk again. She now sounded uncomfortable and somewhat guilty.

"Ashton, there's no point in tellin' any lies to these people any longer."

"Lies?" Angela concernedly raised her eyebrows at Mr. Roberts' daughter's words.

Hesitantly, Utopia nodded.

Ashton rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I was only followin' you and your old man's damn orders."

A soft, sharp breath seemed to get jammed in Utopia's throat, as if a lightening bolt painfully stabbed through her heart.

"Ashton, that's enough, okay?" Mr. Roberts stared at Ashton, his voice surprisingly soft when telling him an order like that.

Ashton uncaringly raised his shoulders. "Whatever."

Since when in the hell was that the way to talk to your girlfriend's father? I suspected that Mr. Roberts would've at least glared at Ashton, but to my surprise, he just kept his mouth shut.

"I must admit that Ashton's somewhat right about the media. They will do _anything _to get high ratings," Utopia began to speak again, but it wasn't long before a pout made its way across her face. She then regretfully sighed. "Unfortunately, there's no way that these escaped mental patients are made up. My father and I know for a fact that they _have _struck around here plenty of times. I told Ashton and made him swear not to tell since my daddy didn't want me to tell anyone 'bout the escaped mental patients to begin with. He allowed Ashton and only Ashton."

"Are you serious?" Faith's eyes were like two marbles, huge and glassy. Protectively, she had her arms crossed over her round stomach.

Tears began to meet the corners of Utopia's eyes. "Yes...and I'm very sorry."

Darry instantly shot his head over, and he stared with somewhat big eyes at Mr. Roberts.

"You mean," The oldest Curtis sounded both angry and fearfully shocked. "_This _is the hotel that I read about in the newspapers plenty of times back in Tulsa? Where many of guests have been found brutally killed, or have suspiciously gone missing?"

Ponyboy's eyes went gigantic. "_That's _it!" He snapped his fingers together. "_That's _where I heard of this place! I _knew_ that I heard it somewhere else other than in school before, but I couldn't quite remember it until now!"

Mr. Roberts' lips went straight. "...It's true." He then sighed after a small pause.

Dally and Vinny instantly started swearing to themselves, and Soda did a face-palm.

Kitten placed her hands on her hips. "How come you didn't inform us before we checked in about all of this?"

"Bills got to pay and I have a daughter to feed. Ever since my wife passed away, money has been tight for Utopia and I. That's why I keep this hotel open as often as possible." Mr. Roberts shrugged his shoulders.

Vinny viciously showed her slimly grinding teeth. "So risking our freaking lives is worth you still findin' a damn way to get paid?"

"I'm honestly not proud of it," Mr. Roberts placed his hand over his heart. "My Utopia doesn't like it either, but we figured that these escaped psychopaths would've left us alone by now, considering there aren't many of you staying here for winter break."

Cassidy sternly crossed her arms over her chest. "Well as you can hopefully tell, you freaking considered it all wrong! Now my baby sister is missing because of those damn bitches that I knew I've witnessed by heart ever since our first damn night here!"

I could've sworn that I felt my heart freeze in my chest. I never imagined Cassidy using that kind of language on purpose, especially with that sudden loud and furious tone.

Johnny's dark eyes shot huge right when the first curse word flew out from his kid sister's mouth. "Cassidy Ellen Cade, what in the world has gotten into you? You know to _never _use that language!"

Cassidy's face glowed red almost instantly. The whole feasting hall met silence yet again, but it didn't last long. Cassidy stomped up from her chair and offered Johnny a rare glare. "Jonathan Alexander Cade, just get the hell off from my freakin' back, all right? Maybe if you do that, you'll damn understand why in the hell I'm usin' this language!" Hot tears of anger and possibly mixed sorrow began to form in the middle Cade's eyes.

"What?" Johnny sounded more hurt than anything. His voice was so quiet that you could possibly have a better chance at hearing a pin hit the floor.

The salty teardrops began to make their ways down Cassidy's face, and her sour scowl was taken over by a heartbreaking frown.

"Think about it, Johnny," She sniffled with disappointment, "if you actually believed me about the shadowy figure that I have been seein' often, maybe we could've packed up and been back on the road by now. We'd possibly be half way back to Tulsa, actually."

Uncomfortably, Johnny placed his right hand on his left shoulder, and his other went to his right hip. "So what are you saying, Cass?" He nearly squeaked. "Are you actually saying that...Jocelyn's kidnapping is all _my _fault?"

"As much as I always pictured you never bein' responsible for something like this..." Cassidy bit down on her thumbnail for a few seconds. "...Yeah...that's _exactly _what I'm saying. If you only cared to believe me-"

More tears flooded down Johnny's face. "But I _do _believe you!"

"Hell sure," Cassidy rolled her eyes, "of course you believe me _now_. However, it's too late, because our baby sister is gone and now we got to track her freakin' down! This is all of your damn fault, Jonathan!"

Dally smacked his hands down onto the table, which caused Johnny to yelp, and Faith jumped a little.

"That's 'nough out of you, little Cade! It isn't Johnny's fault that there are loony bitches on the lose, so you'd best stop tellin' him that this is all his fault!" ordered Dally.

Johnny's tears began to have no choice but to drip off from his face. "Dally, don't bother tryin' to correct her...I know that Jocelyn getting kidnapped is my fault."

My guilt was heavily pressing against the inside of my chest, and I nervously rolled my eyes all around. All of this disaster could've been avoided if I only bothered to tell at least one member of the gang about that news report that I saw. I shouldn't have been my cocky self and figured that classic teenage thing..._it can't happen to me_. Anything can happen to anybody, no matter if you're a good person or a bad one. It's like being a greaser or a Soc; that Bob Soc was killed by Johnny in self-defense because he was drunk and he tried drowning Ponyboy.

Jadelyn Thomas shook her head. "It is _not _your fault, Johnnycake! It's not any of our faults!"

Ashton rolled his eyes. "I still think that this is all some freakin' joke."

"If only somebody actually gave a damn what you thought. Not even Utopia cares, I bet." informed Tim with that usual smart tone of his.

Ashton shot him a scowl, but just as he opened his mouth, Tim grew a mocking smirk and said, "Don't bother. I've been in the cooler 'bout fifteen times just this month, so you can save whatever cuss words you had in store for my honor."

That instantly had Ashton shutting his mouth, but he continued to glare. Under his breath, he sourly hissed many curse words to himself, too.

Johnny clenched his watery eyes shut. "I just want my little Joce back!"

Quickly, Ponyboy got up from his seat and he caringly wrapped Johnny in an consoling hug. "Don't worry, Johnnycake. We're going to get her back no matter what. Right, Darry?"

"That's right," Darry approved, crossing his arms over his chest as he nodded a single time. "We'll start searching right away, but we _got _to be absolutely careful."

Mr. Roberts scotched himself out and stood up, pushing his chair back in afterwards. "I'll go get the police on the phone. They'll probably confirm having stakeouts in order to protect us and they'll have a better chance at bringin' those mental patients to justice once and for all." He gently touched Utopia's shoulders and caringly gave them a light squeeze. "Why don't you come with me, Utopia?"

"Yes, Daddy." Utopia softly spoke and nodded her head.

Everyone was dead silent, frozen where they were. When Utopia and her father made their way towards the doors that entered the kitchen, nobody would take their eyes off from them. The complete quietness remained in the feasting hall until Mr. Roberts and Utopia were no longer in sight.

"Hey, Ashton?" The sound of Jill's voice broke the stillness. She was grinning madly, as if she didn't hear anything about the escaped mental patients or Jocelyn's kidnapping.

"What?"

Jill's smile grew more, causing her white teeth to be exposed. "I need to tell you somethin', so follow me, okay?"

Ashton cocked an eyebrow and hesitated for a few seconds. Nevertheless, it wasn't long at all before he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, okay. Fine. Let' just hurry it up."

Understandingly, Jill nodded her head, and Ashton swung his feet off from the table. He almost "accidentally" swung a kick at that other very pale boy who seemed awfully quiet. Luckily, Ashton didn't kick him; that was good too, because he did look pretty damn sick to me. It was like if you even nudged him in the ribs, he would've had no choice but to throw up or tip over and pass out. Speaking of this boy's ribs...was it just in my head, or did he look like he could've been mistaken for a skeleton? He might've been wearing baggy clothes, but that was the thing; he didn't look like he had any body underneath all of that lose fabric. Hm...that's just...that's very strange...

"...Hey, Cass?" Johnny quietly took his turn in breaking the quietness shortly after Jill and Ashton headed out of the feasting hall.

Cassidy's face was still bright red. "What?" She still sounded pretty harsh, but not as much as before.

Johnny's pout began to twitch at his lips, but he somewhat refused to allow another frown to successfully fly across his face.

"Why don't you come with me so we can try finding some clues to where Jocelyn could've been taken?"

Cassidy only gazed at him, more tears slowly taking their time to drip down her hot looking cheeks.

"I'd rather not...just leave me alone for a while, all right?"

Instead of giving her own brother time to say something back, Cassidy turned away and started to hurriedly walk away. In the small distance, you could hear the sounds of her heartbreaking whimpers and soft sniffles.

"Cassidy, please!" Johnny practically began to blow like a waterfall all over again. "I'm sorry! Please! You can't go by yourself!"

Kitten and Ponyboy quickly wrapped their arms around the oldest Cade, allowing him to shed every tear as they tried calming him down.

"Don't worry, Johnnycake," Pepsi-Cola quickly got up onto his feet. "I'll go talk to her, okay? Everythin' is goin' to be back to normal before we know it."

I took another drag of my cancer stick and puffed out a gray cloud after a couple of seconds. With what I was planning to do next, I needed as many drags from my cigarette as my lungs could handle right then.

"I'll come with you, Soda."

Soda offered me a tiny grin, and he nodded. "All right, that's tuff with me. Come on, Steve. Let's go get that middle Cade."

Again, I took a deep drag of my cigarette, and I followed Soda out of the feasting hall with my guilt only hardening and expanding more and more by the minute. As much as I didn't want to do what I had in mind of doing, I knew that I had to do it. It was the right thing to do...I just had to confess to someone that I knew about the escaped mental patients for a while now, but I refused to tell anybody else. Let's just hope that Soda of all people wouldn't get mad at me like Darry, Dally, or Vinny would.

_Soda's POV_

Steve followed me, sticking close as we exited the feasting hall to hunt down Cassidy. She couldn't have gone far, and she wouldn't ever leave any place without a member from the gang by her side, especially Johnny, Dally, and/or Vinny.

Steve was smoking a cancer stick; he was like me when it came to cigarettes and smoking. He only smoked whenever he wanted to look tougher, or mainly because he had something heavily eating away at his mind. I knew what that feeling was like, considering I went through the whole Sandy thing when she shot down my proposal, moved away, and got knocked up with some other guy's baby. Nonetheless, Steve had a much more difficult home life with a depressed mother, dead unborn infant brother, and an alcoholic abuser for an old man. I grew up with two golden folks who would never lay a single hurtful finger on either me, Darry, or Ponyboy. That was actually something else that I had, but Steve didn't. Everybody in the whole gang had siblings, but Steve was an only child since his mom had that small "trip" down the staircase. Steve told me what his old man really did behind the miscarriage story.

"Hey," I gently nudged Steve in his side with my elbow. "Are you alright?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at me and blew out a cloud of smoke from his previous drag.

"Why? I mean, why are you asking?" questioned Steve.

My confusion and concern were only expanding. "You're smoking," I pointed at his cancer stick for a couple of short seconds. "I'm your best friend, Stevie. I know when somethin' is eating at you, so why don't you just go ahead and tell me what it is?" I offered him my happy-go-lucky grin, but to my surprise, he didn't even shed the slightest hint of a smile in return. Usually he always grinned back at least a tiny bit.

Again, Steve took a drag of his cigarette. "You have no idea how much I want to, Pepsi..." He tried to blow a perfect smoke ring a few times.

"Well," I shrugged, "why don't you?"

"Because I feel like you're goin' to hate me if I tell you this."

Complete concern instantly began to swarm around in my eyes. I could tell by the sound of Steve's voice that he was being serious, but we've been closer than any best buds in the whole universe since grade school. Why would he believe that I would hate him?

"Steve, what's going on? I'm serious, I need to know." I kept my cool like I wanted to do. "We've been best pals since we were children...I'd never hate you over anything."

Quietness met between Steve and I, which had the two of us now frozen in our tracks and staring directly at each other.

I didn't bother to say another word because that would cut into what was really important. Usually nothing could take over Steve's mind, other than his old man; but that couldn't have been why Steve was suddenly so worried about something. Mr. Randle wasn't in Kansas with us and he kicked Steve out yet again a few days before we left Tulsa for this vacation anyway.

Finally, Steve sighed. "It's about those escaped mental patients, Pepsi-Cola..."

I bit down on my thumbnail. "What about 'em?"

My best buddy sighed again, this time more quiet though. "When I got out of the shower here...I saw on the news that these escaped mental patients were on the lose...but when the news reporter said that their kidnapped and murdered victims are centered around this hotel, I didn't believe that somethin' like that could happen to us. I thought that since not many guests were stayin' here for winter break, we would be absolutely safe and secure. Unfortunately, I just found out that hiding that previous news report wasn't as fine as I thought it was before."

I stared at Steve, my eyes now wide and heart feeling like it was about to burst from pumping so hard. Steve and I never hid secrets from each other.

"Remember Fair Fill-Ups? You know, that last gas station Darry had Dally stop by for us to get gas and food and drinks?" Steve suddenly questioned when all he got from me in the first response was silence.

I touched my chin, crossing my free arm over my stomach as I locked the picture of Fair Fill-Ups into my head. "Oh yeah," I nodded then, "yeah, I remember now."

Steve flashed a frown. "Well, that brunette chick that I saw looking through the windows at us was found brutally murdered yesterday morning. Her mom discovered her body, and her old man just so happened to go through somethin' similar to her incident sometime last year."

My wide eyes only grew more, and my mouth slimly dropped open at the picture of some murder scene at Fair Fill-Ups. That was no less than fifteen-to-twenty minutes away from The County Lodge.

"Do you hate me now, Soda?" Steve asked with regret, shattering my thoughts.

Instantly, I shook my head and stuffed my hands into my jeans pockets. "Of course I don't hate you, Stevie. I understand why you didn't think you had to tell the rest of the gang and I 'bout that news report, but I must admit that I'm pretty disappointed that you didn't."

"I'm too cocky for my own good, I know." sighed Steve.

"Everybody has flaws, Steve," I told him, "but we can discuss this some more later, okay? Why don't you go back to the feasting hall and leave me to go find and chat with Cassidy?"

Slim nervousness swiped its way across Steve's face almost instantly. "Are you sure you'll be alright searchin' for her by yourself, Pepsi?"

I nodded and offered him another small smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I got my blade right in my pocket here, and Cassidy couldn't have gone far."

Steve bit down on his bottom lip, but just as he was about to say something, he stopped himself from speaking. "Hey, Soda?"

"Yeah?"

Concernedly, Steve's eyes narrowed. "You know what I just realized?"

I touched my chin with my index finger and studied his concern. "Hm?"

"Those escaped mental patients," stated Steve, "after goin' through the strange knocking noises, the doorknobs jiggling, the shadowy figures, and all of our other individual experiences-"

I quickly cut Steve off. "You mean like my DX cap somehow bein' found in the hallway? Or that strange phone call Kitty Cat told us she and Vin experienced?"

"Yeah, things like that," Steve nodded, "but as I was saying...have you noticed that pretty much all of our experiences happen durin' the night?"

I confusedly raised my eyebrows. "Yes, I've noticed. Where are you goin' with this exactly, Stevie?"

Steve took in a deep breath and held it in for a couple of seconds. Then he let it out and began to talk some more. "Well, all of our strange experiences with these escaped mental patients happen during the night. All of the doors and windows are latched shut and locked up durin' the night, but yet, these escaped mental patients have a way in. No breaking windows, busting down doors...nothin' like that though."

My eyes became glassy like, flooding with some new shock. "Steve, are you sayin' what I think you're saying?"

Steve nervously bit down on his bottom lip and nodded. "I'm afraid so, Pepsi-Cola...somebody in this hotel is working with the murderous kidnappers."

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**A/N: Cliffhanger! XD**

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**I apologize for takin' a while to get this chapter out, but I had to plot a lot of it through and switch a lot around! I hope it was worth the wait! :)**

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	10. More Secrets?

**A/N: Hey! I'm back with another chapter! :) **

**By the way, I just wanted to say that no matter how long it takes me to update, I will _not _stop writing my stories. The last chapter was just a little confusing for me to piece together, but now I think I'm on a tuff track for this one. Some updates might take longer than others, but I _will _update no matter what. Please don't be worried about that, okay? :) :)**

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**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review and onward with the story! Happy reading! :D :)**

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_Darry's POV_

I slowly paced myself, dragging my feet back and forth against the stone floor of the feasting hall. My hands kept raking through my hair, locking themselves around the back of my neck as my shock began to slowly drain. However, my nervousness was only going to continue to expand, and it wouldn't stop until these escaped mental patients were out of mine, my kid brothers, and the rest of the gang's lives. No matter how difficult this was going to be, we needed to stay as safe and secure as possible, and we needed to get Jocelyn back from God knows who. She might've been a baby, but she was still a member of our gang, and Johnny can't live without his kid sisters in his lives. They were the only reason why he decided to try quit smoking, and not to mention he didn't want to take his own life anymore. He needed both of them just as much as they needed him.

Steve decided to come to the feasting hall, but instead of growing concerned over why he wasn't with Soda anymore, I couldn't help to notice how guilty Steve looked about God knows what. Could he have possibly been just as worried about Jocelyn as the rest of the gang? His eyes were huge, shining like two glass marbles, but he wouldn't dare look at anybody directly. Right when he entered the feasting hall and I looked at him, he quickly turned his attention down to the floor. His free hand was jammed into one of his worn out jeans pockets, and his other hand was holding his cigarette.

I confusedly cocked an eyebrow, but I didn't bother to say anything. I had too much weighing heavily on my mind to do so. Everyone kept their mouths shut as Steve slowly approached the table again. Hesitantly then, he pulled out a chair and plopped himself down. Still, he wouldn't say a word, and he rose his cancer stick up to his mouth to take in another drag.

No matter how much I wanted it to, the silence wouldn't shatter. Everything was quiet to the point where you could've heard a small pin hit the floor from a straight mile away. It was silent...very quiet...hm...somethin' in the pit of my stomach was telling me that it was _too _quiet. However, not even I could open my mouth and say something. I tried talking a few times, but every time I opened my mouth, all that came out was more quietness. There was this pounding feeling in the middle of my throat, too. It was as if my words were trying to beat their way out so they could be heard, but not even that had me talking. I couldn't shake off this sick, sinking feeling that somebody was spying on me and the rest of the gang right at that moment. It was like they actually _wanted _everything to be quiet, taking in our misery with satisfaction dancing in their heartless eyes; and a wide, evil smirk plastered across their cold face.

How could anybody be so heartless, kidnapping and spilling others innocent blood like it was no big deal? I came from Tulsa, facing plenty of adult responsibilities in order to keep my kid brothers, our gang, and I tighter day by day, and not a week would go by without there being a rumble with some Socs. Nonetheless, I never went through something like _this _with murderous kidnappers who escaped some mental institution! After mine, Ponyboy, and Soda's parents passed away in that God awful auto-wreck, I knew that I was going to become what was like a father faster before anybody's eyes. I had no choice but to say good-bye to college and fetch me a good enough job with well pay in order to pay the bills, buy the groceries, and keep my kid brothers and myself safe and healthy. But that wasn't all I had to do; I've always been the leader of the gang since I was Superman, but anytime that there was some kind of trouble going on with Kitten, Dally, Two-Bit, or anybody in the gang in general, my mom was there for advice. As for my old man, he was there to turn the frowns upside down. Unfortunately, my folks were gone for what felt like billions of years, and now I had to take up extra responsibility for not only Soda and Ponyboy, but for the gang too.

I was hoping to God that none of my tears were finding a way to sneak out of the corners of my eyes. The last thing the gang and I needed was the extra stress over how even Superman was breaking down in a situation like this. I _never _broke down in any kind of problem in front of the gang; even when my parents passed away, I made sure to keep my sorrow and pain out of my kid brothers and the gang's sights.

As I gazed around the table from where I was standing behind my chair, I couldn't help but notice how much more difficult the rest of the gang was handling all of this.

I actually can't seem to recall a time where I've seen Johnny so torn up and shattered in pieces. He wouldn't lift his head from where he was hiding it on the table, keeping his arms locked around it as he bawled harder than I've ever heard him cry. I didn't need to see his face to know that it was beating red, wet with steaming hot tear streaks, and his red-rimmed eyes were only swarming with more misery by each passing second with knowing that Jocelyn was missing.

With her arms caringly connected around Johnny, Kitten regretfully pouted and rested her head on his shoulder as she softly shushed him. She must've picked up that no matter how many times she told him that everything was going to be okay and that we weren't going to leave Kansas without Jocelyn, Johnny's worry and fear wouldn't stop spreading rapidly inside of him. He's always loved his kid sisters ever since the first beat of their hearts, so he obviously wasn't going to listen to such promising words in _this _kind of situation. Jocelyn was kidnapped, and Cassidy was furious with him, storming around God knows where in the hotel with Soda hunting for her.

I could tell that Ponyboy was trying his hardest to hold his own tears back as he gave Johnny's other shoulder a few consoling pats and rubs.

As for Dally and Vinny, their faces were beating redder than the devil's. You could definitely tell by the way that their eyes were sharply narrowed, and how their lips were peeled back to reveal their tightly clenching teeth that Dallas and Valerie Winston truly _were _from the exact family tree. Just looking and taking in their facial expressions had me thinking that it was like I could hear their voices loudly echoing in my head, firing every word furiously from the book.

That pregnant Faith girl had left the feasting hall shortly after her twin sister and that bitchy Ashton went to have a talk about God knows what. Faith's eyes were like two marbles, wide and glassy like, and she looked as pale as a ghost, but her face was a mixture of bright green. It looked like to me that with all of the hormones with being pregnant, the morning sickness must've been beginning to mix together with her new fear and shock towards these escaped murderous kidnappers.

Jade and Two-Bit were fiddling around with their fingernails and nervously gazing around, obviously trying their hardest to remain calm.

Lastly, that very pale boy with the dark hair and blonde highlights didn't bother to say a word through the whole time in the feasting hall. Whoever he was, he must've been very uneasy about these escaped mental patients, because he carefully stood up from his chair and slowly showed himself out of the feasting hall not long after Faith exited. Not even Johnny was _that _quiet! Hm...somethin' wasn't right with that kid...he looked only about seventeen or eighteen, but he was as pale as a freaking ghost, clean sheet, and vampire mixed together, and his clothes did look awfully baggy on him. Something must've been very wrong with him...but what could've it been?

"Well," Dally's somewhat loud and obviously angry tone startled me out of my thoughts. "What in the hell are we doin' just sittin' here on our asses? We got to start searchin' for Jocelyn so we can get her back and kick these escaped mental patients freakin' loony asses into the generation!"

I took a moment to digest Dally's words and remember many of the things he told us he did back in New York, right before I shook my head a few soft times, trying not to be so obvious that I was attempting to keep my annoyance locked inside.

"Dally," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I know that you'll probably find this hard to believe, but we can't just go off and do whatever the hell we want in order to track these escaped mental patients down." I was trying to talk as calmly as I could, but as soft as I looked on the outside, I felt like I was getting ready to boil over on the inside.

"And whys that, Darry?" Dally cocked an eyebrow at me. "Vin and I know all of the street smarts and we've been through hell back in New York with Hope's death, our old gang betraying us, and a hell lot of a bunch more!"

As much as I wanted to remain calm, I was beginning to lose my cool from being so worked up over how one of our gang members have already gone missing, and another just wants to get up and go hunting for some mental patients like it ain't a big deal.

I leaned over one of the empty chairs and laid my hands flat down on the table in front of me. By the look on my face and the glowing of my eyes, anybody looking at me could've been able to tell that I was being serious as hell. I hope, that is.

"But these are escaped mental patients, Dally!" I stared at the oldest Winston directly in the eyes to get my message clear. "You and Vinny might've faced plenty of alcoholics, drug addicts, sex offenders, and other gang members in New York, but escaped mental patients are a whole new level, even for you two!"

Dally's eyes narrowed a bit. "How damn hard could it be, Darry?" He was keeping his voice soft, but able to hear, and he was sounding pretty damn stubborn if you ask me. I swear, if I wasn't the one who was talking to him right then, he would've been bellowing to the point where people would've picked hearing airplanes take off repeatedly over his foul mouth any day.

"Dally, don't ask such a damn ridiculous thing like that!" I gave him a warning stare. "I know you deeply care about Jocelyn! We all love her, but we can't just start runnin' around to search for her without a plan! That is, unless we all want to get go missin' from being kidnapped ourselves at some point!"

Dally turned his attention down at the table and he quietly went back to cursing under his breath, but he didn't bother to say anything directly back at me. He would never admit it, but I could tell that he knew by heart that I was only stating a fact. Mental patients could be excessively dangerous and absolutely fatal if they don't get the medical care that they need to help them. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that ship has sailed already. Only one of the members from our gang have been kidnapped, and everyone practically broke down a level already.

When I peeked over at Johnny, I could see that his face was no longer hidden. His helpless dark eyes were locked on me, tears still hotly leaving the bright red rims as he went on softly sniffling and drying away some of his salty tears with his jean jackets sleeves. I couldn't help then but notice that what was like a flooding puddle of steaming tears were now resting where Johnny's head previously was on the table.

A frown went tugging harshly at the edges of my mouth, but no matter how bruised up I felt on the inside about all of this, I wouldn't allow my sorrow to overpower me. I was Superman. I was the leader of the gang. I couldn't break down and allow my worry to control me. That would only make this entire "vacation" worse. That is, if things could _possibly _find a way to get worse.

"You're right, Darry," Jade softly spoke up, shattering the new shorter silence. "I've been through 'nough unexpected turns in my life to understand the difference between somethin' that I had to handle right then, to somethin' that's much harder happening right now."

Jadelyn Thomas was the type of greaser girl the I actually accepted. She was a lot like Kitten; they were both clean greaser girls, dressing appropriately and wearing healthy amounts of make-up that didn't make it look like they were wearing some types of Halloween masks. I've seen _plenty _of young girls back in Tulsa that stuck to wearing tiny shirts that revealed almost _everything_, and pairs of _extremely _short skirts and pairs of almost shredded shorts. Jade and Kitten were different though. They might've been clean female greasers, but they weren't afraid to get their hands dirty, and they only fought for self-defense.

I forced a grin and gave Jade a small nod, as if I was silently giving her a thanks. She must've known what I was doing, because she smiled a little back.

However, my little smile instantly vanished when I locked my eyes on Vinny. Her arms were thrown across her chest, and she uncaringly rolled her eyes.

"Well, I don't know 'bout little miss damn sunshine right here," Vinny pointed a thumb at Jade. "But I'm goin' to stick to this damn reality and go check on what the hell is takin' that Mr. Roberts and his daughter so long with calling the fuzz."

As much as I should've been telling Vinny to freaking can her attitude, I was lost in thinking about what she just said about Mr. Roberts and Utopia. They went off to call the cops in the kitchen about two-to-five minutes ago, but they still didn't come back into the feasting hall. Could they have possibly been...kidnapped? No...they couldn't have...we would've heard Utopia and Mr. Roberts at least try to scream, and not to mention that we didn't pick up the sounds of any struggle take place.

"Sit your ass down, Vinny!" Dally barked, just as his kid sister stood up from her chair.

Vinny's eyes instantly narrowed, and she shot Dally a death mock stare. I swear, she was a whole lot more stubborn and violent than Dally, even though she was the younger Winston.

"And what'll you apparently do to me if I don't, Dally?" Vinny challenged.

"Oh, so you want to play _that _damn game, huh?" Dally practically stomped his feet clear into the floor as he rose from his seat. Vinny formed a satisfied smirk, spreading out her arms as if she was telling Dally to bring it on. This wasn't the first time that the Winston's played this "damn game" of theirs, and it honestly aggravated the living crap out of me. I swear, those two _never _get along, unless they were pounding some Soc in a rumble together. Other than that, Dally only looks out for Vinny whenever Two-Bit or any boy in general is making eyes at her. Vinny, on the other hand, rarely did anything for Dally.

"That's 'nough, Dally and Vinny!" I hated to raise my voice at that time, but I didn't have much of a choice. "This ain't no time for fighting!" I then turned my head over to Vinny. "Vin, you sit down and I'll go see what's keepin' Mr. Roberts and Utopia with this phone call to the fuzz!"

Vinny stubbornly mumbled under her breath, swearing beyond belief as she plopped herself carelessly back down in her chair.

I nodded at her, ignoring her annoyed facial expression and foul mouth. "That's better, Vin."

"Hey, Darry?" Steve's voice finally spoke up after he had shut himself out for some reason.

I cocked an eyebrow and studied him as he took one final drag of his cigarette. When he released the smoke cloud from his lips, he finally put the cancer stick out.

"Yeah, Steve?"

"...I don't mind if I come with you," He simply shrugged his shoulders, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was still pretty uneasy about something. "I mean, I think it's best if I actually do."

Confusion began to spark up in my eyes, and I hesitated for a few moments so I could digest Steve's words. Why did he feel the need to tag along with me? I didn't mind if he did, but I never imagined Steve actually wanting to. He was too cocky for his own good, and he pretty much only liked hanging out with Soda. But by the nervousness that I could tell that Steve was containing inside of him, I knew by heart that he must've wanted to tell me something that was most likely very important.

Finally, I broke through my thinking and nodded a single time. "Okay, Steve. Come on and follow me to the kitchen."

Steve only nodded in response, right before he slid his chair out and stood up on his feet. Then he pushed his seat back in, and I took a glance around the table at Jade and the rest of the gang.

"As for the rest of you," I stated in a serious tone. "Stay here and don't rip each others heads off." I couldn't help myself to eye Dally and Vinny for a moment. In return, they just rolled their eyes, but I didn't bother to say anything. Instead, I just looked at Steve, who was now standing by my side, and I motioned him to follow me.

Silence met the feasting hall once again. All that I could hear was the sounds of mine and Steve's footsteps softly stepping across the stone floor. Steve wasn't that far behind me when I finally reached the wooden doors that entered the kitchen. That's when the quietness finally faded, because I could hear the sound of Mr. Roberts' voice going "Hello? Hello? _Hello_?" from the opposite side of the doors repeatedly.

Confusedly, I cocked an eyebrow, but when I glanced at Steve, he only shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and raised his shoulders. I could tell by the look that was glimmering in his eyes that he was just as confused as me. Though instead of letting another second to slip by, I nudged Steve, right before I pushed open the kitchen doors. As I entered, Steve coming in behind, we were both greeted with the sight of Mr. Roberts still going on saying "Hello?" into the phone. Utopia was sitting on one of the clean counters like a proper young lady. Her legs were crossed, along with her arms over her chest, and her hazel eyes that reminded me a lot of Soda's stayed on her father. That is, before she heard the kitchen doors flap shut behind Steve and I; her eyes locked on us in seconds.

"Hello?..._Hello_? Is any officer there?" Mr. Roberts asked, obviously still trying to talk to the fuzz. Why in the hell wasn't anybody responding to him?

Finally, Mr. Roberts must've had enough, because he shook his head a few soft times and rolled his pale eyes. After that, he angrily slammed the phone back down on its receiver, as if he was about to crush somebody's skull with a single pound of his fist. For some reason, Steve seemed to go pale, and that was very strange because out of everyone in the gang, Steve was one of the hardest ones to scare or worry. But after Mr. Roberts furiously smacked the phone up, something must've rang inside of Steve. Whatever it was, it must've startled him greatly, but neither of us bothered to say anything about it.

I watched the owner of the hotel as he ran his hands through his hair and quietly sighed to himself. Something wasn't right, but just as Mr. Roberts opened his mouth and fixed his eyes on Utopia, he froze. He must've noticed that she was just staring at Steve and I, looking like she was about to shed a waterfall about something. Without either of them saying a word, Mr. Roberts snapped his attention around on Steve and I.

His pale blue eyes shot huge. "Oh, how long have you two been there?"

I slightly glimpsed over at Steve, witnessing him only shrug in response, but I knew that wasn't an actual answer.

"We weren't here that long," I honestly spoke, still catching a couple of short peeks over to examine how nervous Steve was acting. "We just decided to come and see what was the hold up with this phone call to the police."

Just like anybody would be afraid of in a time like that, a regretful pout slipped across Mr. Roberts' face.

"I'm afraid that the cops aren't goin' to be able to help us with this mess."

At his regretting words, my eyes became huge and glossy with a mixture of concern and some rare fear. "What are you talkin' about, sir?"

"I'm talkin' about the phone lines," Mr. Roberts sighed. "I must've tried dialing the police twenty-five damn times, but all I get in return is static. The phone lines must've been cut."

"_Cut_?" Steve's eyes widened at the word, and I could've sworn that his voice cracked with rare terror.

Mr. Roberts' frown spread, but just as he opened his mouth to say something, Utopia suddenly started to cough out of nowhere. _Hard_, too. Every cough was deep, and Utopia's eyes became watery as she folded her hands over her mouth. I could tell that these coughs weren't phony by the way Utopia's silky cheeks began to go bright red. Plead for what I thought was a cry for help was shimmering in her dark eyes as she locked them on her father.

When I turned my attention back over to Mr. Roberts' again, I instantly realized that there was a new mixture of worry and terror drowning in his eyes. Instead of saying another word to Steve and I though, Mr. Roberts hurriedly trotted over to Utopia and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Come along, Utopia." hurriedly instructed Mr. Roberts as he quickly, but carefully at the same time, helped his daughter down from the counter. His hands remained pressing against her shoulders, but Utopia was still too caught up in coughing rapidly to pay any mind to him. Her coughs were digging sharper, making me slimly cringe at the memories of how painful my throat felt in the past when I coughed like that during my different rounds of strep.

"Sir," I spoke cautiously, cocking an eyebrow. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine!" Mr. Roberts replied, but he was too quick and a bit too nervous for my understanding.

Still coughing, Utopia's begging eyes slowly opened back up. I could see the tears shimmering at her edges, but when she turned her head a little to look at me, I could've sworn that I felt like my eyes were about to bulge out of my head. I didn't know if it was a trick of the light or what, but there were these drops of some deep red substance dripping out from Utopia's mouth. Then when I took a quick peek at her cuffed hands, I saw the same shade of red dyeing her palms. Was Utopia...coughing up _blood_?

I cracked open my mouth a little to attempt speaking up again, but all that I could do was feed on my silence. I was too startled, taken off guard over the possibility of Utopia coughing up blood. When Utopia flew her mouth back into her hands, and the tears began to slowly run down her face, I decided to take a peek over at Steve. From the corner of my eye, I could see him confusedly raising an eyebrow at me. He must've not noticed the red droplets dripping from her lips, or covering the palms of her hands.

"Are you sure that she's alright, Mr. Roberts?" questioned Steve, the tone of his voice exposing his strong confusion.

"I already told you two that she's perfectly fine!" Mr. Roberts eagerly nodded his head, somewhat raising his voice just a little bit. "Isn't that right, Utopia?"

Steve and I concernedly gazed at the pretty brunette girl. Waiting patiently, Utopia was able to get a hold of her coughing fit to the point where she could talk.

Wiping away some of her tears away, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm-" She cuffed her hands over her mouth again and coughed some more. "I'm fine..."

"See?" Mr. Roberts said in an 'I told you so' tone to Steve and I. After that, he started to caringly lead Utopia out of the kitchen, his hands still gently pressing against her shoulders.

"Wait! Mr. Roberts! Utopia! Where are you two going?" I asked, keeping the nervousness out of my voice the best that I could.

"I'm just goin' to take my daughter to the restroom for a moment. We'll be back soon." answered Mr. Roberts.

It was then Steve's turn to speak. "But what about the police?"

Mr. Roberts and Utopia stopped in their tracks, their backs facing Steve and I. Utopia's coughing was finally beginning to slowly decrease, and I could've sworn that I could hear her gulping down giant breaths of air.

Then Mr. Roberts glanced over his shoulder and gave Steve and I a suspicious expression. His welcoming pale blue eyes suddenly felt hard with seriousness to me, and that had this strange knot tightening up in the pit of my stomach.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Roberts honestly said. "But I'm afraid that the cops aren't coming...and there's no way for us to get contact with them."

I concernedly narrowed my eyes as silence then filled the kitchen, but before I could possibly say anything else, Mr. Roberts escorted Utopia and himself out of the kitchen. That left Steve and I alone.

Steve took in a deep breath and held it in for a couple of seconds. "Well _that _just made this whole thing even _more_ unsettling." He shook his head, softly releasing the breath.

My eyes were still cautiously squinted. "Hey, Steve?...Did you possibly happen to catch a look at Utopia's face when she was coughin' like that?"

At first, Steve looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. He was obviously trying to piece together why I asked him a question like that.

"Um...no, I don't believe I did. Why?"

It was then my turn to be quiet. I could've sworn that there was some red liquid dripping out of Utopia's mouth and plopping against the palms of her hands. Blood...there was no other possible red thing that Utopia could've been coughing up like that. But _why_ was she coughing up blood? I might've been the leader of the gang, but I wasn't any doctor.

I didn't want to stress Steve out even more, so I didn't see why I should've opened my mouth and told him about how I thought that I saw blood coming out of Utopia's mouth.

"Never mind," I sighed shook my head. After that, I ran a hand through my hair, still having a difficult time believing that all of this was happening. "Anyway, since we don't have the cops to help us out with these escaped mental patients, I guess it's our job to track 'em down and get Jocelyn back ourselves."

Steve's eyes instantly went wide. "Darry, when in the hell did you go psychotic yourself?"

"I'm realistic, not psychotic." I rolled my eyes, correcting Soda's best buddy. "And you even know yourself that we don't have any other possible options to pick from. It's either we take these serious matters into our own hands, or we allow these escaped mental patients to kidnap us and possibly draw all of our blood."

I stared at Steve, waiting for him to say something back to me. When all I got in return from him was silence, I opened my mouth again to ask him which option he was going to stick with. Nonetheless, I shut myself up instantly when Steve walked right passed me. I kept my confused eyes on him, questioning what I was witnessing as he picked the phone up and dialed the number for the police.

However, it wasn't long before Steve let out a "Damn it!" and he roughly placed the phone back where it hanged on the wall.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Steve, Mr. Roberts said that the phone lines were cut, remember? We can't call anybody."

"I just don't know who we can trust in this hotel, Darry." Steve sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"What are you talkin' about, Steve?" I confusedly raised my eyebrows and tilted my head over a bit.

"Well, there's a reason why I wanted to come in here with you. I have to tell you somethin' that's very damn important."

My confusion was only expanding. "And what exactly would that be?"

"Well..." Again, Steve sighed, and a rare frown slipped across his face as he kicked back against the wall. "Long story short...somebody in this hotel is workin' with the killers."

I could've sworn that I felt my heart take one final gigantic leap in my chest before it heavily dropped like a rock, landing in the pit of my stomach. I was hoping to God that I didn't pale, and I quietly gulped under my breath so Steve wouldn't hear me.

"What are you talkin' about, Steve? How on earth did you come up with that?" I asked when I found my voice again.

"Darry, think 'bout it," Steve stated. "All of our strange experiences seem to happen at night, which is when all of the doors and windows in this place is latched shut and locked up tighter than any cooler that Dally or Vinny has been to. How could these escaped mental patients find a way into the hotel without there bein' any shattered windows, busted down doors, or anythin' that obvious of a break in?"

My eyes became glassy all over again. Steve had a point...there was no other possible way for anybody to sneak in or out of The County Lodge during the night, thanks to the well locked up doors and windows. Though at the same time, I just didn't want Steve to risk causing everyone to get all worked up even more over nothing. Was it possible that some other guest actually _was _working with the killers? I never thought of that...

I touched my chin with my index finger and studied Steve, thinking heavily about each of his words.

"All right...I didn't ever suspect that, so thanks for tellin' me, Steve." I broke the unexpected silence.

In return, Steve gazed down at the floor and hesitantly nodded, as if he was ashamed by something else. Nonetheless, I didn't want to ask.

"Let's get back to the others, okay?" I instructed.

Steve simply shrugged and nodded, as if he was Johnny. "Are we goin' to tell them about what I figured out?"

I hesitated and bit down on my bottom lip. "...We will at some point, but now is a bad 'nough time."

"But we don't know who we can trust in this hotel, Darry!" Steve pointed out. "Other than the rest of the gang and the Shepard's, everybody else is a possibility to who could possibly be workin' with the killers!"

"Be quiet, Steve!" I raised one of my fingers up to my lips and shushed him. "There's no use to announce it to the whole hotel! And believe me, I've seen enough horror films to know how these types of things turn out!"

Steve cocked an eyebrow and he crossed his arms over his chest. "_How _exactly would a situation like _this _play out in one of those movies, Darry?"

"Don't ask," I shook my head. "Let's just head back to the table."

Understandingly, Steve nodded his head, and without another word, he followed me out of the kitchen. Nevertheless, it wasn't long before I froze in my tracks again, startled at what unexpected detail greeted Steve and I when we entered the feasting hall again. Everybody was still sitting where they were at the table like I told them to do, but Ponyboy was the only one who wasn't there anymore. Soda and Cassidy still weren't back either, and all of the other guests weren't in the feasting hall anymore either.

My eyes shot huge, but instead of allowing another second to slip through my fingers, I bolted over to the table like my life depended on it. Steve came trotting not that far behind.

"Darry! Steve! What took you guys so long?" questioned the concerned looking Two-Bit.

I instantly shook my head. "Never mind that! Where's Ponyboy?" I swear, I've never felt my heart pound so hard before in my entire life.

"I think he said somethin' about going to the bathroom." Johnny bit down on his thumbnail, obviously still worried.

"Which is a freakin' lie, for your information." Vinny rolled her eyes. "Ponyboy wouldn't bother goin' to the restroom in a place where escaped mental patients are lurking."

My teeth began to grind a bit, and I raised my eyebrows at Vinny. "Any ideas where he could've actually went?"

Vinny paused for a couple of short seconds before she shrugged. "He probably went off to find Soda and Cassidy."

Doesn't that kid _ever _use that head of his for anythin' outside of school? I specifically told him and the others to sit their butts down in their seats and to not leave the feasting hall!

"Damn..." I mumbled under my breath, obviously a new mixture of anger more fear. "I got to go find him before he gets his ass kidnapped!"

Without giving anyone a chance to say anything back to me, I sprinted away from the table and continued my way out of the feasting hall. Unfortunately, I was unaware that a cold pair of dark eyes were watching me right at that moment, spying on me from somewhere outside.

_Ponyboy's POV_

Some unexpected twist that this vacation decided to pull over the gang and I. Here we were, thinking that we were going to be able to have a tuff first ever vacation all together, but after traveling all the way out of our dangerous home town to get here to Kansas, we were finally welcomed with the terrifying truth behind all of these strange experiences of ours. Escaped mental patients were on the lose, and whoever they were, they already got away with kidnapping innocent little Jocelyn. But no matter how long it was going to take, Darry assured the gang that we weren't going to leave any of our friends behind in Kansas. We were going to find Jocelyn and get her back one way or the other.

Unfortunately, I must admit that leaving the feasting hall was a pretty horrible idea. I wasn't using my head when I first stood up from my seat though; of course, that didn't surprise me. After Darry and Steve headed into the kitchen, I got right up on my feet and covered where I was going with the bathroom. Nobody seemed to object to me verbally, but I could tell by the way they were each staring at me that they weren't so sure about me heading off in this gigantic hotel all by myself. Nevertheless, I went off on my own anyway, and that was a terrible mistake.

I only wanted to start searching for any clues as to where Jocelyn could've disappeared to, but it was too late to turn back to go ask for help now. The County Lodge was basically like a huge maze, and I knew completely that Darry was going to knock some sense into me when he realized that I was gone.

Quietly, just as I released a sigh, I couldn't help myself to freeze in my tracks. There was this strange sound that I suddenly picked up, as if it fell from the sky. Unsuccessfully, I raised an eyebrow the best that I could and kept still, as if I had a choice. My feet refused to take another step from where they were now pinned to the wooden floor. I began to pick up two sounds this time: My heart being to pick up the pace, and the strange noise that I thought sounded like creaky footsteps hurriedly making their way around. But what _really _made them different was that the footsteps weren't coming from upstairs, or a distance away from where I was.

"What the..." I shut myself up when I then heard what I knew for sure was a light bang, followed by more footsteps.

Slowly, I turned my attention over to this part of the wall. Again, I failed at cocking an eyebrow, but I attempted it anyway and listened carefully like my life depended on it. Just like I suspected, another noise came from that part of the wall. This sound sounded like it was a glass bottle accidentally breaking.

I took down a soft gulp, but instead of running off to go get someone else like I should've, I didn't use my head yet again. My legs began to slightly shake, but I was still able to force myself through my stiff stage and walk. I silently tiptoed over to that part of the wall where I could've sworn I heard all of these strange noises. I stopped when I was able to gently touch the side of my head to the cold surface, breathing a little harder, but very quietly in order to remain calm.

_Bang, bang, bang...tap, tap, tap..._

Was...was somebody on the other side of the wall? How was that possible? Behind every wall is just more wall, unless there were doors that led into different rooms. But this wall would've led you outside...so how could someone possibly-

"Holy crap!" My eyes shot as wide as saucers, and I was taken off guard when only that part of the wall actually _opened up_. Since I had my ear pressed against the wall, I fell straight down, backside up as I hit the small remains of the ground. To my stunning discovery, I noticed an old looking, wooden staircase resting in front of my now flat body. Was this _seriously _happening? Did I really just open up a secret passageway? I thought things like this only happened in the movies!

I quickly pushed myself up on my knees, right before I grasped the wooden railing to help me get back up on my feet. My eyes remained huge, and my mouth gaped open from shock as I stared down the wooden stairs. I didn't have the slightest idea which room they led to, but whatever room it was, it had its light turned on down there.

"Jocelyn..." I shakily said under my breath. "...Are you down there?"

Strangely, I didn't hear anymore noises coming from down in this secret room. Instead, everything was surprisingly still, but that only made this whole thing more strange. I might've not used my head that often outside of school, and I did have one heck of an imagination, but I know for sure that I didn't just hear all of these weird noises in my head. That glass bottle breaking, light bangs from things being shuffled around, and the footsteps hurriedly making their way around. As much as I hated to admit it, there was only one way for me to get to the bottom of what was happening in this hidden room. I had no time to go running around The County Lodge to find any of the gang, even though I would've liked some company.

I quietly began to move, stepping my foot down on the first wooden step. One of my hands tightly clenched the wooden railing as I prayed for my parents guidance and protection in my head. With each step I took down this staircase, every stair quietly creaked beneath me, despite me trying to keep every one of my steps as quiet as possible.

When I took in a deep, quiet breath to help my heart get back on its usual speed, I was instantly greeted with the heavy mixed scents of heavy, stuffy air; and booze. That's when it finally hit my realization that I must've been in some type of wine cellar, considering the sour smell of alcohol, and it must've been secretly built a little underground the hotel. That would explain the air feeling heavy and smelling all dusty and stuffy.

Finally, I reached the bottom of the stairs, but I had to practically yank my hand off from the railing from being so nervous. I wish I had Darry, Soda, Dally, or even Two-Bit with me; anything was better than exploring around a huge hotel all by yourself when there are escaped mental patients on the lose. It makes me think back to that time before all of our lives almost changed completely. I was on my way home after stepping out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house. I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. It wasn't long before I heard a loud horn being honked repeatedly, getting closer on my tail. Socs...it's away Socs in their fancy mustangs and corvettes. Luckily, my calls for help when those Socs held me down and tried slugging me to death were heard. I'm pretty sure Kitten had the main Soc who slugged me first in a chokehold, and she was deeply cutting off his oxygen before another Soc caught her off guard and pushed her to the ground. She was alright; Kitten's always alright. She's pretty, too. But what mainly had me thinking back to that time was because Two-Bit joked about how I would like it if he was my bodyguard. I told him that I didn't think it was too hot of an idea, but right at this time, I sure wish that I could have anybody from the gang with me.

As I studied around the wine cellar, I could tell that nobody must've noticed that it was there for God knows how long. The walls looked worn down, chipped and completely whitewashed, and each upper corner was full of old spider webs. The floor was a dark grey color, created with cold and hard stone. There wasn't any furniture, but there were countless amounts of dark brown stands; each one looked like it was about to break at any moment with different glass bottles of booze, vodka, beer, and every other alcohol imaginable on each shelf. Man, if Two-Bit knew about this place, he probably would find a way to get a TV down here so he could drink and watch Mickey Mouse.

"Hello?" I confusedly gazed around the medium sized wine cellar to see if I could spot who or what made those weird noises. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone, nor did anybody say anything back to get my attention. "..._Hello_?" I broke through my nervousness towards the strange silence and tried it again. I slowly turned my head left to right, but all I got was the same quietness. How was that possible? Was I going insane? No, I couldn't have been...these noises weren't coming from the inside of my head. I'm positive that they were coming from down here.

I confusedly narrowed my eyes and continued to glance all around at every inch of the wine cellar from where I wouldn't move my feet. The last time I was in a place that was _this _rundown, Johnny and I ended up saving a bunch of innocent little kids from a fire. Just thinking about smoking a weed in a place full of alcohol had chills spiking up my spine. One little accidental cigarette butt still on a good lit would instantly have the whole wine cellar down in flames, and it wouldn't be long before it traveled up the staircase and lit through the wall to burn down the rest of the hotel.

"Is anyone down here?" A lump began to form in my throat after I asked a question like _that_, but before I got the chance to even swallow, something else caught my attention. There were two of the wooden stands leaning up right next to each other, and each glass bottle full of alcohol on the stands were lined up differently; not a single space was left between any of the glasses of alcohol. It was as if somebody or something placed the bottles that way in order to hide something on the other side of the shelves.

Being the most curious one out of my brothers, I couldn't help myself to slowly begin my way over to those two shelves. I was practically on my tiptoes, but I could still hear the sounds of my footsteps forming beneath me. Strangely, they didn't sound like the footsteps that I previously heard; those footsteps were more hurried and they were very creaky...like my footsteps were when coming down the stairs.

With that thought now stuck in my head, the lump in my throat began to grow and become sore. No matter how many times I tried swallowing to get rid of it, my strong nervousness kept the painful bump where it was.

My heart was pounding in my chest to the point where it felt like it was about to explode. I'm not even sure it pounced this much when I ran for track! Unfortunately, there was something inside of me that wouldn't stop going on about how I just _had _to know what was behind those two stands. Quietly, I took in a deep breath and held it in for a couple of seconds before I released it. That's when I finally made it over to the two shelves, and I quietly grasped one of the glass bottles by its neck, picking it up and moving it out of my way. I couldn't help myself to keep it in my hand, clenching it carefully, but also hard enough to make it seem like I was ready to use it if I had to. Like Kitten, Johnny, and Cherry Valance, I thought that fighting was useless, but when it came to self-defense, I had no choice.

"Listen, I know that you're down here. I could hear you from the hallway upstairs." I hesitantly peeked through the opening that I created. Innocently, I then blinked and took in what I could see; just like I suspected, there _was _something behind those two stands. More wine cellar...oh boy, oh boy. It looked like there was a corner where somebody could chill around without being seen or caught when someone else came down the wooden stairs. However, none of that explained why or how I heard those footsteps, things getting shuffled around, and that glass bottle breaking.

"Hello? There's no point in tryin' to hide, okay? I know that you're here, so you might as well show your-" I was caught off guard, terrified out of my wits when an actual human hand shot out from the small opening of the one shelf. It roughly grabbed me by my reddish/brownish hair and yanked me forward, causing my face to slam into more of the glass bottles. Luckily, none of them shattered, otherwise I'd be smelling like alcohol, and my face could've gotten slit up.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head, and I fearfully yelled out "Self!" to finish what I was trying to finish before. Madly, I began to fearfully twist all around, and I tried hurriedly running away from the shelves to escape this hand. Unfortunately, whoever had a grip on a good handful of my hair wasn't giving up that easy.

"Ah! Let me go! Let me go!" All that was running rapidly through my head then was that one of the escaped mental patients must've grabbed me. They wanted to take me away, and since I was a teenager, they were most likely going to spread my blood before Darry, Soda, or anybody from the gang could get me back.

Whoever had my hair was yanking me to the point where I felt hot tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes, thanks to my pain and absolute terror. They were pulling my hair so hard that I was surprised that they didn't yank it clear out of my head.

"Ow! Ah! Ah! Help! Help me! Somebody!" I was practically screaming at the top of my lungs, but this hotel was so huge and the last time I saw the gang, they were in the feasting hall together.

"Darry! Soda! Kitten! Somebody! Help me!" Still trying to pull away madly, I used my free hand to press against one of the shelves so I could try resisting being pulled forward anymore. That's when I realized that I was clenching the one bottle of alcohol that I had removed in order to spy on the other side of the two shelves in the first place. Usually I'd be against using any kind of weapon on anybody, but right at that moment, I didn't give a damn piece of crap!

"I said..." Steaming tears continued to flood in the corners of my eyes, and I slung my other arm back. "Let me the hell go!" Not waiting for another moment to slip by, I brought the glass bottle down with the roughest strength that I could serve. I didn't think that I was so strong, because whoever had my hair instantly released it when the glass shattered all over their arm, slightly cutting it up and drenching it with alcohol.

I touched my hair, quickly fixing it before I started to rub away the tears from my eyes. But just as I was about to flash myself around and bolt back up the stairs, something stopped me.

"Damn it! That stings like freakin' hell!"

That voice...it didn't sound like it belonged to some psychotic mental patient. It was a young man's voice; he sounded like he was probably around Johnny's age to me.

"What the..." I hesitantly approached the shelves again. After that, I quickly took away another glass bottle from the one shelf and this time, I carefully sat it down on the floor. When I then glanced back up, obviously nervous and scared as can be, I was surprised to see that I was right. There on the other side of the two shelves was this lean teenage boy, who was using what must've been his shirt to wrap around his arm after I clapped it with that one other beer bottle. He looked about Dally's height, dressed in a plain pair of worn out, dark blue jeans; and his dark red hair was about Johnny's length, but it reminded me of Cherry Valance's by its color. His eyes were just like hers too, shining green; but unlike Cherry's, his eyes scared me.

Without using my head, I said the first thing that came to mind. "You don't look like a killer."

The tan boy slowly turned his attention back to me, his eyes narrowed with confusion.

I nervously bit down on my bottom lip.

"Is this some kind of game you play, boy?" He motioned to his wrapped up arm.

Quickly, I shook my head. "Of course not. I only fight like that when it comes to self-defense." I was still pretty rattled up. "Who are you?"

At first, all that the tan boy did was stare at me, but I waited patiently. After a few seconds of quietness was passed, he finally shattered the silence.

"The names Carson...Carson Simons. What about you? You're sure as hell not who I thought you were."

Confusion began to flood in my eyes. This boy's name was Carson...and he grabbed my hair because he thought that I was somebody else...but who?

"...My name is Ponyboy Curtis." I introduced myself.

By the new look that Carson was giving me, I could tell that he was having a difficult time over if he should believe me or not. Just thinking that had my ears going red; I hated it when people judged me for my name. I wasn't the one who wanted to be named something _this _original, but after mine, Darry, and Soda's parents passed away, I actually like being named something so original. It helped me remember how happy-go-lucky my father was, and how much my mom loved him for his goofiness.

"That's..." Carson's voice broke off my thinking. "That's your real name?"

I nodded my head again, but this time wasn't as fast and nervous as before. "Yes, it's my real name...I even got an older brother named Sodapop. It says so on our birth certificates. We even have another older brother that we call Darry...my dad was a very original person."

"...I see..." Carson raised an eyebrow and touched his chin with his okay arm's index finger. "Well then, Ponyboy, why don't you come back here with me for a moment? I can tell that you want an explanation about why I'm down here and why I just did what I did to your hair."

I nervously brought my hand up to my mouth and bit down on my thumbnail. After my folks died in that awful auto-wreck, Darry taught me twice as hard in who to and not to trust. In half of Carson's case, I could tell that my family and friends would've approved of him instantly. However, the other half said that Darry, Soda, my parents, and the gang would tell me he was nothing but bad news, even though I didn't see how that mattered. I mean, Dally and Vinny were known as Tulsa and New York's most famous hoods, but they were still a part of our gang. Maybe it was because they weren't always like that.

"Kid, you don't have to be scared of me. I won't bite, you know?" Carson suddenly chuckled, which somewhat brought me out of my thoughts. I wasn't fully back to placing myself back in the present until I heard the sudden noise of glass bottles gently clicking together. That's when I shook my head, snapping out of it in time to witness Carson pull out quite a bit of the bottles of alcohol on the lowest shelf of the one stand we were talking to each other through.

"What are you doing?" I innocently tilted my head, obviously confused.

"I'm opening what others would probably call the doorway to this secret hideout that I made back here."

I unsuccessfully cocked an eyebrow at his response. "That _you_ _made_?"

"That's right," replied Carson with a proud smirk like grin on his face. "Now come on, Ponyboy. I can't have you down here much longer. By the way, how old are you?"

Without waiting another second, I got down on my hands and knees. "I'm fourteen. How 'bout you?"

"I just turned seventeen last month." Carson answered, just as I made my upper body visible on his side of the shelves. "Here, Ponyboy, let me help you out there." Carson seemed okay in my mind; although, I could tell that he could turn into an exact replica of Dally if you ticked him off.

"Thanks, Carson." I thanked him as he gripped my arm and helped me back stand up. God, he looked taller up close.

"No problem, Ponyboy." He simply shrugged, right before he turned himself around. "Follow me, will you?"

I dusted myself off and hesitantly nodded. Carson headed around the corner, and I sooner followed him a couple of seconds later. To my surprise, all that was there was around the corner was a dead end, but there were some old crates with big black letters on them that said "Fragile" arranged to look like a throne, along with two other crates at the sides to be like desks, and another in front to look like a footrest. One of the "desks" were opened to reveal plenty of more bottles of alcohol, and beside it rested some broken glass.

Carson plopped himself down in the "throne" and kicked his dirty bare feet up on the "footrest."

I decided to stand still, remained at the corner with my back now against the wall.

"Did you make those old crates into a chair?" I asked, and Carson nodded. "Wow...that's pretty tuff."

"Thanks," Carson simply shrugged, right before he released a sigh. "I might as well make this explanation I promised you fast, because like I said before, you can't stay down here with me for much longer." I didn't know what to say, so I just kept my mouth shut and blinked. Carson, who must've known that I wasn't going to say anything, took in a deep breath and sat up straight in his homemade throne.

I quietly took down a nervous gulp, not knowing what to expect in this explanation of his.

"When I grabbed your hair like I did, I thought that you were Ashton Fisher. See, he and I used to be pretty tight..." He grew a small grin and snickered. "We sure did have some crazy times, plenty of them involving cigarettes and hot girls checkin' us out at clubs we've snuck into and whatnot..." He then looked regretful about something, giving me this look that said he had nothing to do with something. "Unfortunately, he changed out of nowhere after he met that Utopia Roberts...she's very sweet and bubbly, too good for Ashton...and he knows that, which is why he became such a no-good ass. All of those tuff times we had were like they were never there, and he turned himself into a hood. I even remember how he pulled his older sister's shirt up in front of me, and no matter how much she begged him not to do it...he cut off her bra with his switchblade and held her tightly in place so she could flash me. Man, I desperately hid my face as much as possible, but Ashton wouldn't have that..."

My eyes were gigantic, and my jaw felt like it fell straight down to the floor. Uncomfortable chills raced up and down my spine, causing the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck. This vampire looking Ashton was under the same roof as the gang and I, and that made me mostly worried for Kitten, Vinny, Cassidy, Jadelyn Thomas, Utopia, and the twins. Nonetheless, I didn't say a word, and Carson went on talking.

"But Ashton turnin' himself into a complete bitch just because he has such a doll like Utopia to call his girlfriend isn't the reason why we're not exactly friends anymore..." Carson gazed down at his hands, which were now folded on his lap, and he nervously twirled his thumbs around.

I waited patiently to see if Carson would go on, but when nothing but silence began to surround us, I couldn't help myself to find my voice and break the quietness. I was curious all over again.

Hesitantly, I softly asked, "...Then what is the actual reason, Carson?"

Still fiddling around with his fingernails, Carson peeked back up from his lap and glanced at me. His green eyes were glowing with plead, as if he was asking me to help him, but I had no idea what could've got him so upset all of the sudden. Sure, those things he just told me about Ashton were awful, but what was it that struck him in the heart?

"Ashton began to hang out with the wrong people...when he first introduced me to them after a month or so passed with him hanging out with them, I instantly hated them to death. I called 'em the rough crowd right after I first laid my eyes on them. Why'd I hate them, you may be wondering, hm?" Carson's eyes narrowed with anger, but it wasn't towards me. I knew that it wasn't. "Well, they were nothin' but a bunch of dumbass teenagers who did nothin' all day but wear tattered, very revealing clothes; and they popped damn pills and they drunk all day before they "partied" all night...and by "partied" all freakin' night, I mean that they took turns doing the deed with each other, or they picked up random people their age to have it with." The anger vanished from Carson's face, and a sorrow full puppy look appeared all over again. It was as if he was never mad. "Ashton wasn't even high or drunk half of the damn time, but he went ahead and had sex with any hot girl he could get his hands on."

My heart took a startled leap in my chest. "But what about Utopia?"

"What do you think?" Carson narrowed his eyes again. "He always does the deed with any girl he thinks is hot, whether he's drunk or high or not. Utopia still doesn't have the slightest clue 'bout his cheating ass, but I never bothered to tell her. We grew pretty close and became good buddies, so I didn't want to risk seein' her brokenhearted."

I was too shocked to say another word, so I only bit down on my bottom lip and nodded.

"Anyway," Carson went on with his explanation. "I followed Ashton's ass ever since he ditched New York for winter break. I swore revenge on him after what he freakin' did to me...you see, Ponyboy, I got sick as hell with goin' to fetch Ashton's ass in the dead night, especially on the cold streets of New York of all places. So, I left a little earlier than usual to get a head start, but when I got to the lot where Ashton and his so-called freaking pals were..." Carson's voice cracked a little, but we continued talking. "Ashton drank too damn much and he literally _did _get drunk...and he demanded his wasted "friends" to attack me...I was freakin' pounded nearly to death, being punched in the face, kicked in the gut, slammed in the chest, swung in the back...I was in very bad shape by the time that those bitches decided to back off and just mockingly point and laugh at me. I was too damn weak to move a muscle, moaning in pain to myself as I laid there on the cold ground...but just when I thought that things couldn't get any worse for me...I felt my pants get tugged off, and after I saw who was undressing me, they slammed me over the head with a bottle and knocked me out..."

I could've sworn I went as pale as a sheet. "Don't tell me that it was-"

"Ashton...yes, I'm afraid that I have no choice to tell you that it _was _Ashton who freakin' raped me..." Carson took down a big gulp. "But you know something? Ponyboy, what really got my chain rattled was when I woke up in the hospital the next morning...I was bandaged up, covered with many different dark bruises and scrapes. Hell, I'm pretty damn sure those bitches busted half of my bones and ribs. I'm still surprised that I was still able to walk after getting attacked like that..." Carson began to rub the back of his neck with his okay arm's hand. "Unfortunately, I'd rather take not bein' able to walk thanks to Ashton's bitches over what that bastard Ashton himself gave me...here I am, now seventeen...and I wanted to be a virgin until I was married to a pretty girl who would carry my babies...but now, that's all freakin' ruined because Ashton took away my virginity and replaced it with damn AIDS."

"What?" I couldn't help myself to gasp. I felt like a sour bomb just went off in the pit of my stomach.

Regretfully, Carson nodded his head and ran his good hand through his red hair. "My doctor told me that my tests had shown that I have been sexually active...certain levels were higher than others...and I was cursed with an STD thanks to Ashton. I don't have the slightest idea when my time will come either, but I think it'll be a little over a year before...you know, I have no choice but to leave."

I could've sworn I felt my heart rip a little. "What did your parents say about this? Any siblings?"

"My parents are gone," Carson sighed. "My mom died in a fire and my old man went MIA before they found him all shot up in Vietnam. As for any siblings, I have two twin siblings...one brother and one sister, but they don't know that this happened to me. My brother is engaged to his girlfriend and off in Vietnam himself, and my sister recently decided to get pregnant with her boyfriend since they're plannin' to get married next year. I live with my aunt and uncle right now, and they're expecting their second baby."

"I take it that you didn't tell them about Ashton?"

"I couldn't," Carson shook his head. "I can't stress my auntie out since she's pregnant, and my uncle is gettin' things ready for the baby. I told them that I was going to take a trip away from home for winter break, and just like I told you before, I came for my revenge on Ashton."

"But how are you goin' to get any kind of revenge on him with you down here in this secret wine cellar?" I confusedly narrowed my eyes, but what made me feel more uncomfortable was when Carson had this evil look glimmer in his eyes, and he smirked widely.

"Believe me, Ponyboy," He deviously chuckled. "I don't think we need to worry about that..." Silence began to stir around in the wine cellar between the two of us. That is, before Carson softly said with that smirk still on his face, "I think you should be on your way now, Ponyboy."

"How come?" I innocently asked. "Why do you want to be alone so much? How did you even sneak into this hotel in the first place?"

Carson rolled his eyes. "This place may be locked up tighter than a bank in gang territory at night, but durin' the day, the service this winter break is too damn crumby for anybody to catch people like me sneakin' in." This serious expression formed on his face, and he swiped up a bottle of alcohol from the one open crate. "Now head off, Ponyboy. Don't tell anyone about me or this wine cellar, all right? Now go on and leave me be."

"But Carson-"

"Now, Ponyboy! Now!" Carson surprisingly sounded furious all of the sudden, as if he turned into somebody from the Shepard gang. His face looked as red as the devil's, and his teeth were now clenched tightly.

My eyes became huge with fear, and without waiting for another moment, I flashed myself around and bolted around the corner. Carson didn't say anything else and neither did I. Instead, I accidentally fell down from tripping over my own feet, but I only continued hurrying off like Carson commanded me to do. Quickly, I crawled back over to the other side of the two shelves and pushed myself back up on my feet. Then I dashed all over again, racing through the wine cellar like my life depended on it, but even though I was in a hurry, I couldn't help to notice that I could've sworn I saw some dark figure just standing down at one of the aisles of different shelves of cluttered alcohol. Nevertheless, I was in such a hurry that I shook it off and considered it a part of my imagination. I bolted up the stairs; breathing rapidly, but quietly as my heart jumped faster and faster, and before I knew it, I was back up in the one hallway of The County Lodge.

I put my hands on my knees and panted heavily, but when I gazed back up at the secret passageway, I witnessed the door close all by itself. It was like somebody was standing behind it and waiting for me to get out. That thought had me paling whiter than a ghost, but just as I was about to start running back in the direction from where I came from to begin with, somebody strong threw their arms around me.

I instantly yelped, but just as I began to struggle, I saw who the person was. They grabbed me by my shoulders and spun me around to face them. Darry...it was only Darry...oh boy, I was in much trouble.

"Ponyboy, what in the hell were you thinking?" Darry demanded to know, shaking me a little. "Didn't you hear me tell you and the rest of the gang to stay in the feasting hall? You could've gotten kidnapped!"

"I know, Darry, I know." I honestly spoke. "Can you please stop shakin' me?"

Darry sighed and listened to me, but he wouldn't let my shoulders go.

"Are you alright, Pony?" He seemed like he was trying to calm himself down.

I hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, Darry, I'm okay."

"Okay...where did you go anyway? You look like you just got done runnin' a marathon."

I _wish _I just got done running a marathon. Carson's voice began to ring in my head...he told me not to tell anybody about him or the wine cellar...but by the way he acted towards me before I ran would scar me forever. It was as if he was never kind or helpful to begin with; something wasn't right about him...

"Well, Ponyboy? Where were you?" Darry repeated his question after I didn't answer the first time.

"Sorry, Darry," I then shrugged my shoulders. "I was just walkin' around the hallways."

Darry pointed at my nose. "Well, I don't want you going _anywhere _by yourself from here on out, okay? We got to stick together."

I nodded, and to my surprise, Darry then had me in a giant bear hug like Soda would do in a time like that. After what happened in the wine cellar, I was relieved to death, and I connected my arms around Darry to return my half of the hug.

"Darry! Darry!" A sudden male voice came ringing from the opposite end of the hallway.

"Superman, we see you found the kid!" A female voice then announced.

Darry and I parted, knowing those voices by heart, and just like we suspected, here came Two-Bit and Vinny.

"I ain't a kid, Vinny." I stuffed my hands into my worn out jeans pockets and rolled my eyes at the term.

"Just be glad I didn't call you a preschooler, Ponyboy." Vinny rolled her eyes at me. Sometimes she really tugged at my leash, but what really got me steamed was the fact that she liked it. I wonder at times why Two-Bit even has a crush on her, but I always tell myself that she wasn't always like this.

"All right, that's 'nough, you two." Darry instructed, pointing at Vinny at one moment, and then at me the next. He then gazed at Two-Bit. "What's going on?"

"Well...you might want to see your truck and the Shepard's SUV, Superman..." Two-Bit huffed.

_Kitten's POV_

I stood still with my hands jammed in my jean jackets pockets, wide-eyed at the sight of Darry's tires suddenly slashed.

Dally was cursing at the top of his lungs, running his hands madly through his hair as he paced back and forth. Jadelyn Thomas tightly clenched her dog, Zeus' leash as he howled along with Dally's mad cussing.

Johnnycake stood beside me, nibbling on his thumbnail nervously. To help keep her calm, I comfortingly hooked one of my arms around his shoulders and tried my best to offer him a smile. The least I could do was give him only a small piece of a grin though.

Soda was still looking for Cassidy, and Two-Bit and Vinny had went off to go find Darry and Ponyboy.

"How does it look under there, Steve?" I nudged him gently with my foot. Steve was on his hands and knees, peeking underneath Darry's truck to see how everything looked underneath it.

"Everythin' seems fine under here. The gas tank is all right and there isn't any parts out of place." reported Steve as he stood back up from the ground and dusted himself off. "Whoever did this to our vehicles decided to just mess 'round with what we can see, I guess."

How in the hell could _this_ happen though?" Tim violently barked, examining the doors of his rusty SUV to realize how they were actually all scratched up with what looked like animal claw marks.

Angela and Curly sat still on the hood, Curly looked extremely worried while Angela rolled her eyes.

"Relax, Tim. It's better our cars than us." Angela pointed out, and as much as I didn't get along with her at times, I knew that she was right about that.

However, Tim was too furious to deal with her, pointing one of his fingers warningly at her face. "You better freakin' shut your trap before I decide to ditch your ass in the middle of nowhere!"

"Tim, lay off 'er. She may be a spoiled son of a bitch, but she has a damn point, man." Dally madly dived one of his hands into his leather jackets pockets, but he only went on cursing at the sky when nothing came out in his hand.

Steve headed over to the Shepard's SUV and began to examine it for himself.

"Does anybody have a weed I could use? I left my pack in my other jacket. What 'bout you, Johnnycake?" He gave Johnny's shoulder a little nudge.

"Sorry, Dal," Johnny sighed and shook his head. "But I'm tryin' to quit, remember?"

Dally did a face-palm and went on cussing under his breath.

I would've said something, but I wasn't in the mood, so I just rolled my emerald green eyes. I smoked once and hated it instantly, considering it made me feel like I was hacking my lungs out. Never again did I touch another cancer stick, unless I was handing a pack over after picking some up for one of the others in the gang.

"Hey, Dally, you can have one of my cancer sticks." Curly brought out a fresh pack from his pocket and opened it.

Tim narrowed his eyes. "I thought you quit, Curly."

Curly held a cigarette between two of his fingers and shrugged after Dally snatched it away from him, lighting it up almost instantly.

"I couldn't risk leavin' Tulsa without them for a whole break, Tim." explained an innocent sounding Curly.

"They're cancer sticks, not a freakin' puppy, Curly." Tim ran a hand through his hair and went on cussing to himself, right before he held out his other hand. "Give me that pack, Curly. I'm cuttin' you off."

"Aw, come on, Tim-"

"No, Curly! Give me the damn cigarettes!"

As if he was some little kid, Curly pouted and gazed at his pack like it was a toy. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes and sighed, handing it over to Tim since he knew that Tim wasn't patient, and if they got into a fight, Tim would win in no time.

"That's more like it." Tim sternly nodded and stuffed the pack of cancer sticks into his pocket.

I rolled my eyes. "I still wonder why I almost bothered to go out with one of your members, Shepard."

"Which one?" Angela cocked an eyebrow, smirking at me.

Dally took a drag of his cigarette and blew out a perfect smoke ring. "Maybe it's because you dated that Jesse Sheldon bitch for a while." He nudged my arm.

"Please," I growled like a junkyard dog. "I still don't see why in the hell I went out with some prick like him, so you can shut your trap, Dallas Winston!"

"Calm down, Kitty," caringly shushed Johnny. "Everythin' is fine now...that was in the past."

I bit down on my bottom lip and sighed. "I know...but it still feels so real."

Understandingly, Johnny nodded.

"You're a smartass, you know that, Andrews?" Dally addressed me by my last name.

"For your freakin' information, I do. Growin' up being ignored by two Soc parents who love your four little brothers more than you will do that to you, I'm sure." I then turned my head and flashed Dally a small smirk. "But do you think that I give a damn about how much of a smartass I can be?"

Jadelyn Thomas instantly smirked at my response, and I could tell that Dally was trying his best not to expose any kind of smirk. That instantly drained away from his mind when he started to pay more attention to Darry's truck again.

"Damn it! I'm goin' to freakin' strangle these mental patients throats!"

Just then, the main glass doors of The County Lodge flew open, and here came Two-Bit and Vinny running out with Darry and Ponyboy bolting on their tails. When Pony and Darry saw how the tires were slashed, their eyes instantly grew and their mouths fell open.

"My truck!" Darry practically hollered for the whole world to hear. "This was my father's truck that I used to help him wash and fix up!"

"At least your tires are only slashed," retorted Tim in a smartass voice. "My vehicle is all scratched up and everything."

"Just stick a damn cork in it already, Tim!" Dally demanded, obviously not in the mood.

I gazed at Ponyboy and grinned a little, relieved to know that he was safe. "Hey, Ponyboy."

He smiled some back and waved slightly. "Hi, Kit-Cat."

Nevertheless, our grins were long gone when we paid attention to our cars again.

"Those escaped mental patients don't know when to stop!" hissed Angela as she stubbornly flew her arms across her breasts.

Darry rubbed his temples, obviously trying to hold back his rage and remain calm. "And it's up to us to get 'em to stop once and for all."

Two-Bit confusedly cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talkin' about, Superman? Is the fuzz going to be showin' up anytime soon?"

"No," Darry sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, the phone lines were _cut _by one or more of those mental patients and Mr. Roberts couldn't get a hold of the police."

"So that's it? This is all up to us now?" Curly, who was now as pale as a ghost, questioned.

Again, Darry sighed. "Yes, but if we do what we're best at, which is sticking together, I'm pretty sure that we can do this."

"_Pretty sure_?" Vinny commanded. She placed her hands on her hips. "Darry, like you said earlier, these are-"

"Escaped mental patients, I know," Darry rolled his eyes. "But if we can each handle livin' in a hell hole like Tulsa, I think if we keep each others backs safe, we can get to the bottom of this mystery."

"...But how?" Ponyboy confusedly narrowed his eyes. Darry looked at him and placed an arm around his shoulders.

"Well, Ponyboy, like they do in those mystery horror films, we're goin' to make sure that none of us split up unless we're with somebody else. Other than that, all we need to do is start searching for Jocelyn." Darry instructed.

Jade was then technically dragged over to Darry's truck, considering Zeus looked like he was on the move about something. He was smelling away like there was no tomorrow, scampering all around the truck until he suddenly glanced up and got himself into a pointing position. Then he began to howl and bark like his life depended on it.

"Can't you shut that damn dog up, Jade?" Tim demanded, going on with a string of cuss words as he rubbed the side of his head.

Jade shot him a look that gave it away that she was getting pretty annoyed with him very quickly. Nonetheless, she didn't bother to say anything to him.

"Tim, if we had a muzzle, I'm pretty damn sure you'd be the one we'd put it on!" Angela pointed out.

With a beating red glare now spread madly across his face, Tim raised both of his middle fingers at Angela. Though before he could bother saying anything to her, he reclosed his mouth when Jade's voice was heard, beating him to it.

"Wait! Wait! I think somethin' just triggered Zeus' hunting and tracking instinct!"

Everybody instantly became still, and we each glanced at the barking dog to notice how fast his tail was wagging. Still in the pointing position, I decided to stare straight ahead to realize where he was pointing. Across the road from The County Lodge was the woods.

"He must've picked up the scents of who did this to the cars!" I gasped, surprised. "That means he can possibly lead us to where Jocelyn is! Or he could at least show us who took her!"

"But the woods? Really?" Two-Bit nibbled on his thumbnail a bit. "I'm not sure in how most horror films turn out for people who go into the woods, but I'm pretty damn sure that the woods is one of the main places where you never want to head off to alone."

Jade placed her free hand on her hip and smirked knowingly. "Newsflash, Two-Bit, I won't be alone. I have my Zeus here; he's been protecting my family and I ever since he was a pup."

Tim cocked an eyebrow, his thumbs now hooked into his pockets, and he stared at Zeus, studying him for a few seconds. Then he rolled his eyes and said, "Those must've been some spineless burglars and gangsters then."

"Hey," Darry pointed a finger at the oldest Shepard. "That's 'nough negativity out of you, you hear? We're each goin' through enough right now, and your mouth is sure as hell not going to help us."

Out of everybody in the gang, Darry was the only one who Tim wouldn't bother to smart off to. Darry was the leader of our gang, very protective and he used his muscles whenever he had no choice but to sit somebody straight.

Tim raised his hands up to his shoulders, not bothering to say another word to the eldest Curtis or anybody for that matter.

"That's better, Shepard," Darry nodded a single time, right before he glanced back at Jade. "Look, Zeus may be a tough lookin' dog, but you can't go without another human watchin' your back. We can't risk anymore people gettin' kidnapped."

Jade bit down on her bottom lip and nibbled on it. "Hm...then who can come with me?"

At first, all that came was silence for her answer, but after a few of us exchanged looks back and forth, Dally surprisingly stepped up.

"I'll go with you," He simply shrugged. "...Unless you'd prefer a more legal greaser as your company."

Jade raised her eyebrows at him. "We're on a vacation that's no longer a vacation, but apparently a damn life and death situation mystery. I'm pretty damn sure anythin' legal is out the window by now, Winston."

Dally rolled his eyes, as if he was saying "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"I was bein' sarcastic, smartass." He mumbled.

"Lay off her, Dally!" I almost instantly hissed at him, right before I turned my attention over to Jade. "I'll come along with you, too. Anythin' is better than being alone with such a dangerous greaser like Dally in some woods when there are escaped mental patients on the lose."

Dally narrowed his eyes at me, but instead of saying anything to my face, he cursed under his breath. He knew who I was so well.

Jade offered me a smirk like grin, and in return, I smiled a little back. We dug each other real well, and it felt good to have another female feel a part of the gang.

"All right," Darry huffed. "The three of you, take Zeus and stay as close as possible in the woods when searching around for anything that can relate to Jocelyn or the escaped mental patients. Be _very _careful though."

Understandingly, Jade and I nodded, but Dally only continued to smoke his cancer stick like he was listening to his parole officer.

"In the mean time, we'll search for more clues around the hotel." Darry added, motioning to the rest of the gang, including the Shepard's. "Don't stay in the woods for too long either. Now let's get to it!"

I stuck to one side of Dally while Jade stuck to the other, and the three of us began our way across the street with Zeus practically dragging Jade all over again. The rest of the gang and the Shepard's, on the other hand, headed back inside of The County Lodge, but it was too bad that none of us realized that different pairs of evil eyes were watching every move we were making. As for Dally, Jade, Zeus, and I, we were too caught up in heading into the woods that we didn't pay any mind into noticing how somebody was stalking after us.

* * *

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! XD**

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